Thunder Bay firefighters were sounding the alarm on the importance of early fire detection.
Firefighters with Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue continued giving out information as part the annual fire prevention week. Firefighters were at the Canadian Tire on Arthur Street and Home Depot on Main Street on Saturday giving passersby a chance to look inside the fire truck as well as getting to know some of the crew.
Capt. Brant Kiessig, a 30-year veteran with Fire and Rescue, said public education is important as it helps to make sure they can do their job better. Firefighters usually are able to arrive to a fire within six minutes but even that may take too long.
Kiessig said that’s why having an early warning system can help to give fire crews more time.
“Today’s modern fires move way faster than they used to so early warning is imperative,” Kiessig said. “The modern fire presents us with a much smaller window of opportunity to save lives. The more the public is aware about big things likes smoke alarms in the homes makes a big difference for us.”
Besides the main messages of having smokes alarms and having a fire escape plan, firefighters also wanted to make sure children were afraid of them. Although, Kiessig hasn’t found that to be a problem, he said with all their gear they could appear a bit intimidating to a child.
“With pets and children alike, they go to their safe place – whether it is a closet or under a bed,” he said. “I guess we could be a scary monster coming to save them and sometimes you have to talk the child out of their safe spot. I think if you can convince them that you are trying to get them out of a bad situation everything will be ok.”
Fire Prevention Office Paul Abernethy said they wanted to make sure they made people aware the importance of having a smoke alarm in all locations of their homes. Sometimes people believe that having one or two fire alarms in their home is enough.
But Abernethy said that’s not true.
“People seem to be getting the message but there are a few people who still that somehow believe that the basement doesn’t count to have a smoke alarm or different portions of the house don’t need to have detection,” Abernethy said. “Our message is they have to have one on every floor and outside of the sleeping areas. I think most people are now coming around.”
