Fire Prevention Month - The Home Depot Wants to Help You Prepare

2:51 PM

October is Fire Prevention month and sadly, most people aren't prepared in the event of a home fire. In fact, I was one of those people. Checking the fire alarms and evacuation plans were just not at the top of our busy to do list, but they should have been. This week though, in conjunction with The Home Depot, we stopped by our local fire station for a visit with Lieutenant Mike Bellamy and received an awesome fire house tour as well as some tips on how to be prepared. The Home Depot want to raise awareness and preparedness and has partnered with NFPA and Kidde to provide free in-store workshops all month.

{Fire Prevention Preparedness with The Home Depot}

We have all heard the common things we should do to prevent fires and be prepared in the event of one, but what you need to do is a lot more complicated than just understanding to stop drop in roll. Some simple things you can do to help prepare your home and your family are:

Have working smoke alarms at the entry of your home and in each bedroom.
Create an escape plan with your family and always have two ways out. A good way that Lieutenant Bellamy told us to describe this to children is like a rabbit hole. They always have two ways in and two ways out. It is a great way to help kids remember what to do!
Install a carbon monoxide alarm on each level of your house. Some fire alarms now come with carbon monoxide alarms built in, so be on the look out for those as they are more efficient.
Check for hazards like exposed and frayed cords, excess paper by appliances and overcrowded outlets.
Have your chimneys cleaned at least once a year.

For more information on preparedness, safety products or to find a free The Home Depot Fire Prevention Workshop in your area, visit their website.

{Our Fire Station Visit}

The boys thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the local fire station. Lieutenant Bellamy gave us a great tour and Jase even got to honk the horn on the fire engine. He did this while covering his ears the whole time of course.

We learned about all the different tools that the firemen use to respond to different types of emergencies, including home fires. I never knew there were so many different types and sizes of hoses. I also didn't know that there were different fire trucks that performed different functions.

Jayden got to try his hand learning how to open up the fire hydrants when responding to fire calls and we took a tour of the fire hydrant park.

Joshua was able to rev up the pump. The one in this particular truck held I believe 700 gallons of water, but with the pump and hoses they use, that could all be dispersed in a matter of a few minutes to fight a fire.

Jase got a chance to sit in the driver's seat, but was a little afraid at first. The boys learned a lot about what goes into fighting the fires and what they brave men do and sacrifice each day to help keep us safe. We also learned that there are about 50 calls received and responded to each day and it is certainly much easier to prevent a fire than to put one out.

All of this hits a little too close to home, since we watched a house right down the road burn to the ground last holiday season because of a lit cigarette in the house. We may not have been prepared before, but we definitely are now, thanks to Lieutenant Bellamy and some great tips from The Home Depot. To learn more, check out their Facebook page or reach out to them on Twitter.

Are you prepared in the event of a fire? Do your children know how to prevent fires from starting in the first place?

The Home Depot partnered with bloggers such as me to help promote Fire Safety Awareness Month. As part of this promotion, I received compensation for my time. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about the products used. The Home Depot believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

Kathleen

Kathleen is a homeschooling mom of four boys with a serious case of the Wanderlust bug. Her love of travel extends to her children, and has resulted in the family visiting 48 states to date, and traveling nearly a third of the year. She is the owner of LifeWith4Boys.com where you will find information on Family Travel, recipes, reviews, lifestyle and more.