Fire Prevention Week focused on home fires

LYNN – National Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 5-11, is focused on reducing the number of home fires through education and awareness programs, including an open house on Wednesday, Oct. 8, at the Broadway firehouse.The public is invited to the Broadway firehouse between 2:30-4:30 p.m. when firefighters will be available to answer questions, children can climb aboard the apparatus, and instructions will be given on how to “stop, drop and roll” to extinguish clothing if on fire.Visitors will be treated to free balloons, plastic fire helmets for children, and pizza courtesy of Papa Gino’s restaurant.Fire Prevention Week nationwide will also see the introduction of a new cartoon character named Dan Doofus.The Dan Doofus “Fire Up for Safety” video series was created by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and is coming online soon at www.dandoofus.org, according to Lorraine Carli, spokeswoman for the NFPA.Carli said the series is comprised of three two-minute animated videos starring the humorous blue character who learns the hard way how to prevent home fires. Topics include home fire safety checklists, home fire escapes, planning and proper use of smoke alarms and residential sprinkler systems.”Dan Doofus does everything wrong the first time. He burns his house down. But he learns from his mistakes and takes the lessons with him,” said Lynn Fire Capt. Robert Bourke, officer-in-charge of the department’s fire prevention bureau. “He’s already on YouTube.”Bourke said children can meet Sparky the Fire Dog and explore in the interior of an ambulance, ladder truck and fire engine.A new study by the NFPA notes that a fire occurs in a structure once every 59 seconds in the U.S., and more specifically in a residence every 76 seconds.Further, about 84 percent of all fire deaths (2,865) in 2007 occurred in the home, an increase of 11 percent over the previous year.National Fire Prevention Week is the longest-running public health and safety observance on record, according to the National Archives and Records Administration’s Library Information Center. Observance of fire prevention week was first proclaimed by the U.S. Office of the President in 1925.