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JBSA News
NEWS | Sept. 28, 2018

‘Look. Listen. Learn: be aware. Fire can happen anywhere’

By Joint Base San Antonio Fire Emergency Services Joint Base San Antonio Fire Emergency Services

This year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, “Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere,” works to educate about three basic but essential steps to take to reduce the likelihood of having a fire – and how to escape safely in the event of one. Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 7-13.

“LOOK” for places fire could start. Take a good look around your home. Identify potential fire hazards and take care of them.

“LISTEN” for the sound of the smoke alarm. You could have only minutes to escape safely once the smoke alarm sounds. Go to your outside meeting place, which should be a safe distance from the home and where everyone should meet.

“LEARN” two ways out of every room and make sure all doors and windows leading outside open easily and are free of clutter.

“By taking these three crucial steps, one can avoid to reduce the risk of fire, and have the knowledge to escape one, thereby saving your life.” said Chief Mark R. Ledford, Fire Chief, Joint Base San Antonio Fire Emergency Services. “To escape quickly in the event of a fire, pre-planning is what everyone should draw upon to snap into action.”

This year’s theme works to better educate the public about the serious importance of taking the essential steps of escaping a fire.

The Joint Base San Antonio Fire Emergency Services is working in coordination with the National Fire Protection Association, or NFPA, the official sponsor of the Fire Prevention Week for more than 90 years, to reinforce those potentially life-saving messages.

In support of Fire Prevention Week, encourages all JBSA households to develop a plan together and practice it.

A home escape plan includes working smoke alarms on every level of the home, in every bedroom, and near all sleeping areas. It also includes two ways out of every room, usually a door and a window, with a clear path to an outside meeting place (like a tree, light pole, or mailbox) that’s a safe distance from the home.

The NFPA and JBSA Fire Emergency Services offer these additional tips and recommendations for developing and practicing a home escape plan:

·         Draw a map of your home with all members of your household, marking two exits from each room and a path to the outside from each exit.

·         Practice your home fire drill twice a year. Conduct one at night and one during the day with everyone in your home, and practice using different ways out.

·         Teach children how to escape on their own in case you can’t help them.

·         Make sure the number of your home is clearly marked and easy for the fire department to find.

·         Close doors behind you as you leave – this may slow the spread of smoke, heat and fire.

·         Once you get outside, stay outside. Never go back inside a burning building.

 

The week will close out with an open house at JBSA-Lackland’s Fire Station 1, building 2325, 1910 Kenly Ave., from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 13. There will be static vehicle and equipment displays, Sparky the Fire Dog, fire safety demonstrations, and a bouncing castle.

Firefighters will be available to answer questions about fire vehicles and the equipment they use. Handouts, coloring books and fire prevention information kits and refreshments, including hot dogs, chips, drinks and cake, will be available.


A fire safety trailer will be on display that teaches children the importance of fire safety, how to escape a fire in the home and how to properly call 9-1-1 to report a fire.

To find out about Fire Prevention Week activities at each operating location contact JBSA fire prevention offices at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, 221-3465; JBSA-Lackland, 671-2921; and JBSA-Randolph, 652-6915 and ask for the Fire Prevention Section.

 

To learn more about Fire Prevention Week, visit the NFPA website at http://www.firepreventionweek.org.