Fire Prevention Week comes to a close

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Siuta B. Ika
  • 49th Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The 49th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Protection Flight participated in and observed national Fire Prevention Week Oct. 9-15 with various activities surrounding this year's theme -- "Protect your family from fire."

The flight kicked off activities with a fire parade and a firefighter muster competition in Alamogordo, N.M. that also included local county fire departments, Oct. 1.

"It was a big event that went really well," said Wayne Mello, 49th CES fire chief. "This was a really big year, in which we were able to involve not only the base populace, but also the local community. October 9 through 15 is fire prevention week, however, we started festivities way before that."

The flight also opened the doors of Fire Station 1 for an Open House.

"We had several people come to the fire station and we showed them around, let them tour a fire truck and Sparky just happened to come out of the dog pound that day so that he could meet the youngsters," said Harvey Stevens, 49th CES assistant chief of Fire Prevention. "We had about 30 to 50 people here for the Open House so were glad that happened. In years past, the fire station was the focal point for a lot of small cities, so why not today, too?"

The week continued with Fire Protection Flight-supervised fire evacuation drills at all of the Holloman schools as well as select squadrons around base.

The overall goal of the week was to promote fire safety, awareness and prevention.

"What we want to do is spread the word and educate people on fire prevention and how to keep their families safe," said Mello. "We've talked a lot about the hazards in the home -- kids playing with matches or candles as one example -- and we try to emphasize the importance of making sure that they are all educated on fire safety practices. Believe it or not, there is a correlation between homes that are dirty easily catching on fire and homes that aren't cluttered and well taken care of not catching on fire."

Although a number of the activities were for the base populous and local community, the Fire Protection Flight placed an emphasis on teaching children about fire safety.

"We talk about fire safety in the schools on base, we educate the [Child Development Centers,]we get the kids when they're just youngsters because if they're old enough to listen to a fire inspector we're there trying to educate them," said Mello. "There is an added emphasis in educating children. If we can get them educated and teach them fire safety at a young age, as they get older they'll pass that along and help us spread that word."

To emphasize the importance of fire safety and prevention to all of Team Holloman, Sparky the fire dog visited the base to talk to children at the different schools, worked as a pedestrian crossing guard, made appearances at different locations around base and greeted people at the front gate.

Mello said the added emphasis on fire prevention and safety has paid off.

"If you look at statistics across the Air Force, we don't have a large problem with fires and the reason for that is we put a lot of emphasis in fire safety," he said. "We put fire protection and suppression in all of our facilities, we educate facility managers, and we make sure [Airmen are] educated. Our fire prevention section does a really good job at inspecting buildings and teaching folks. If you have a fire on base it's usually a small one and can be put out as soon as we get there."

Mello said the most important part of Fire Prevention Week is about trying to drive home one important point.

"Fire prevention is not a week long activity, it needs to take place all year long," said the fire chief. "It's everybody's responsibility. It's not just the fire inspector's. It's everybody's responsibility and should be practiced every day."

For more information on Fire Prevention, contact the 49th CES Fire Station at 575-572-7782.

To see the "Fire Prevention Week comes to a close" slideshow, click here.