Fire prevention week kicks off on Monday, October 7. The Castlegar Fire Department takes the next couple of weeks to speak to local schools about fire safety. Chief Sam Lattanzio says this year’s campaign focuses on three steps to quickly and safely escape a fire.
“We visit all the schools in the Castlegar area and do some education with all the students that are between the grades of kindergarten and grade three. And this year’s theme is look for places fire could start, listen for the sound of the smoke alarm, and learn two ways out of every room.”
Data from Statistics Canada shows that the number of structure fires declined by 26 per cent between 2005 and 2014. However, it’s good to keep in mind that cooking equipment and smokers’ material caused approximately six of every 10 residential fires.
Chief Lattanzio says members of the Castlegar Fire Department also helped raised some funds for charity last weekend. They braved the dunk tank at The Blue Barn Pet and Hobby Farm’s Pet Festival.
“Couple of our members, including myself, got to be dunked in a very cold body of water. It was awesome, lots of people visited and lots of organizations and charities benefited from that,” says Chief Lattanzio.
The Castlegar Fire Department was able to donate over $743.71 to Muscular Dystrophy through the Castlegar Firefighters Association.
