Tag Archives: Fire and life safety education for the public

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer Photo Source: nfpa.org National Fire Prevention Week for 2020 begins October 4th and continues through October 10th. And it’s going to be much different than NFPW 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The traditional open houses at fire stations and fire halls across the U.S. and Canada won’t be happening. The public displays (e.g., ...

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to deepen across the U.S., one thing I’m hearing and reading much about is how fire departments are “scrambling” to get online solutions to their community outreach efforts. Perhaps scrambling is a bit hyperbolic, but the fact remains that fire safety educators and firefighters are not ...

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer Tanya Bettridge My fire service colleague Tanya Bettridge is the Captain for Public Education at Mississauga (ON) Fire and Emergency Services. But more than that, she’s an extraordinary communicator when it comes to developing effective fire and life safety messages for the public. Here I’ve borrow a piece that she posted over on LinkedIn ...

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer https://thesaurus.plus/img/antonyms/217/inoculate.png Well, is it? Are you and your family inoculated against preventable fires? You may think that it’s enough that you inform yourself about how to prevent fires and act to improve and protect your environment (e.g., your home or business) from a preventable fire. But you probably live in a community with other ...

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer ICYMI, here are Part I and Part II of this four-part series this week. Now if you’ve been following along, you know that the focus here is how you and your department can develop some better strategies for teaching children and adults how to avoid becoming a victim of a preventable fire. Because we ...

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer ICYMI, here’s Part I of this four-part series this week. Photo courtesy of NFPA.org Now if you’ve read Part I, you know that the focus here is how you and your department can develop some better strategies for teaching children and adults how to avoid becoming a victim of a preventable fire. Because we ...

By: Robert Avsec Source: NFPA.org DYK, it’s only 17 weeks until the beginning of National Fire Prevention Week 2019? Hard to believe, right? Seems like it was just last week (But truth be known, it should seem like it was just last week, as every week should be Fire Prevention Week, am I right?). So, what will you and your ...

Interesting data from the USFA (United States Fire Administration). The number of fires [in the U.S.] is down over 6 percent in 10 years, but fire related deaths [in the U.S.] are up over 10 percent in that same time. Any thoughts on why this is?

This is not some “pipe dream” of mine. There is such a system and it’s been available for the better part of the last five years. It’s the Fire-ED Interactive System developed by my colleague Tracy Last. And if you don’t know Tracy and the Fire-ED Interactive System, then you don’t know fire and life safety education for the 21st century.

If we truly want to eradicate preventable fires, we must start by using language that clearly identifies the responsible party; it’s not the fire, it’s the person whose improper behavior created the conditions that enabled the fire to start.