NFPA announces Fire Prevention Week theme
“Fire Drills: The Great Escape” will be the theme of Fire Prevention Week, October 4-10, the National Fire Protection Association has announced. The theme, according to Meri-K Appy, the NFPA`s vice president of public education, was chosen based on the results of the organization`s 1997 Home Escape survey, which revealed that only 16 percent of the more than half of the survey respondents who had developed a home escape plan had practiced it (see News in Brief, December 1997).
One objective of the Fire Prevention Week program is to conduct a “Great Escape” public fire drill throughout North America that will have families exit their homes when the alarms from their local stations sound. Fire departments and schools throughout the United States and Canada are encouraged to participate. The NFPA, Appy says, is working closely with state and provincial fire marshals` offices and safety advocates throughout North America. U.S. and Canadian fire departments will be given more details in the coming months. For additional information, contact Julie Reynolds or Susan McKelvey at the NFPA Public Affairs Office at (617) 984-7275, Internet:http://www.nfpa.org.
