Bedford Fire Captain Offers Tips During Fire Prevention Week

BEDFORD, NH — Each year, Bedford Fire Rescue spends the weeks leading up to Fire Prevention Week making trips to schools and daycare facilities in town to refresh everyone on fire-safety procedures. On Tuesday, those efforts culminate with Bedford Fire Rescue's annual Open House at the Bedford Safety Complex on Constitution Drive.

"Kids get to talk with us at the different events and this is their chance to introduce their parents to all the firefighters they've met," said Bedford Fire Capt. Thatcher Plante.

The open house runs from 5 to 8 p.m. and will include a kids' obstacle course, presentations from health and safety organizations, firetruck rides, live fire demonstrations and free food. National Fire Prevention week is Oct. 6 to Oct. 12 to line up with the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire that killed 250 people and left more than 100,000 homeless in 1871.

Plante said between 300 and 500 attend the open house in Bedford each year.

"It usually depends on whether the Red Sox are in the playoffs or not," Plante said. "Last year there was a little bit of a lull because there was a playoff game that night. We are hoping for more people this year."

While the night is meant to be fun, the fire safety tips given are no joking matter in the case of an actual fire. While there are different points of emphasis each year, Plante said many of his themes are constant.

"Have an escape plan for your house, have a meeting place outside and close your bedrooms doors when you sleep at night," he said. “A closed door helps delay the spread of fire, smoke and heat throughout the house so you have a better chance to escape."

Plante said the best way to escape a fire remains having working smoke detectors in all buildings.

"If you read the stats you'll see that in fatal fires chances are the smoke alarms did not work or were missing," he said. "We can never get rid of fires. But we can go a long way toward getting rid of fire deaths. A lot of them come through complacency when people don't check their alarms."

For more information on the event, go to the Bedford Fire and Rescue Facebook page, or contact Fire Inspector Tim Lavoie at tlavoie@bedfordnh.org or 603-472-3219.