Can you find your way out? National Fire Prevention Week’s theme is a life-saving question

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. Armstrong
  • Tinker Public Affairs
As National Fire Prevention Week approaches, Tinker Fire Department officials have one question in mind. The answer to "Can you find your way out?" could be the difference between a happy ending and a devastating tragedy.
   When the annual event kicks off Saturday, Tinker fire personnel will spend the majority of their days instructing school-aged children how to escape a fire, and teaching them which household items are potential fire hazards.
   "Fire safety is an everyday thing," said Earnest Baxter, Tinker fire inspector. "If we don't educate and practice it with our kids who (will); and if we have to wait for our children to learn it the hard way, they might not be there to learn."
   NFPW is backed by Tinker's Fire and Emergency Services and the National Fire Prevention Association, a nonprofit organization, which writes the codes and standards that the Air Force uses, said Scott Bloxham, assistant Tinker fire chief.
   New to NFPW this year is Sparky's House. The fire department acquired the condemned house, named for the beloved costume Tinker Fire Dept. mascot, from Base Housing. The 1,100-square-foot ranch at 5357 Chidlaw Ave. is a tool to teach children about fire safety.
   "We're going to set up the home and show (children) how it relates to their home," said Staff Sgt. Scott Lair, Tinker fire inspector. "We're going to show them all the tools they need to make their own home safe.
   "Fire safety is everyone's responsibility," the sergeant said.
Mr. Baxter said a fire can become deadly in as little as two minutes, once an alarm sounds.
   Yet, only 25 percent of Americans have designed and practiced escape plans, according to NFPA research.
   To help the children better understand the fire department's message, Rainbow Valley Fire Dept. educational cartoon characters are painted on the walls of two of the three bedrooms and a video showing the effects of a grease fire will play on the kitchen TV. Fire officials will also smoke up Sparky's house for the older children, after they learn proper exiting procedures.
   "Most of the deaths that occur in single and two-family dwellings are juveniles," Mr. Baxter said.
   In the workplace, Tinker fire officials will schedule fire drills, so Team Tinker members can practice escape plans.