Greetings All,
It’s hard to believe but it is November and October is already in the rearview mirror. I hope you all had a safe and candy-filled Halloween. As we exit the proverbial Fire Prevention month, we ask that you continue to focus on fire prevention around your homes year-round. We should always be vigilant and keep up safe practices around our homes to prevent the outbreak of fires. Safe practices include not overloading wall outlets or extension cords, never running extension cords under carpets or furniture legs, and being safe and attentive while cooking. The TDFR closed out Fire Prevention week with an Open House and neighborhood appreciation day here at Station 1 on Freeway Ln. All our equipment and our Safety House were out and set up for tours and we even had an area for the kids to play with a fire hose and squirt some water. A good time was had by all who attended, and many walked away with a new understanding of their fire department. If you missed it don’t worry, we will do it again next year and you’re always welcome to drop by the station to visit anytime.
As we move into the Holiday months and hopefully some cooler weather, the TDFR wants to remind you to be careful when using space heaters. When the weather starts to turn and folks break out those space heaters to help with the chill, we tend to see an increase in residential fire calls. The space heater, while good for a quick warm up in a small space, is not meant to heat your entire home. Please be careful where you place your space heaters. Placing them too close to your bed can result in your bed linens igniting and in an instant your beds on fire. As well as being too close to your windows and the draperies can be ignited. Be sure to give your space heater plenty of room away from anything that could be ignited in the room you chose to use it in. Also, many don’t realize it, but those little space heaters pull a lot of amperage, make sure, if using extension cords, that you use one with the proper amperage rating to handle the space heater. Too small of an extension cord can create heat in the cord which in turn could ignite carpets or other materials that may have accidentally covered the cord. This is also a good time to mention to those of you with electric or gas furnaces, you can most likely look or smell in this case, a strange odor the first time you fire those heaters up. Many times, that odor is created by dust burning off the furnace burners and it is nothing to fret over. A good practice, which I’m guilty of not doing, is having a professional HVAC technician come out and give you an inspection and cleaning.
Our newest Engine received graphics and most of its equipment so be on the lookout for Theodore Dawes Engine 4 on the streets. While we are still in the process of getting Station 4 on Three Notch Rd. up and running, in the interim, we will be using E4 some just to let personnel get used to how it handles and operates.
November brings a lot of changes with it, from seasonal to personal for all of us. I like that hurricane season draws to a close and hunting season opens. I enjoy the change in weather, but I hate that college football will start to fizzle out. I like the fact that the holidays are upon us, but I do not like shopping and all the scheduling of events that come with those holidays. For everyone at your Theodore Dawes Fire Rescue Department, we wish you and your families and very safe and happy holiday season.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Chief Byrd