Fire Prevention Week is upon us, and Portage la Prairie's fire chief, Brad Bailey took the time to talk to PortageOnline about the importance of this week.
Bailey says this year's topic is for households to plan their escape route if a fire were to take place.
"We want everybody to think about what they're going to do in case of an emergency. So, that includes planning the way out of your home. We need to have a fire escape plan for everybody in your home," continues Bailey. "People have different abilities, so we want to make sure we pre-plan ahead so that they have a plan to get out of their house in an emergency."
Bailey explains that different homes have different layouts so planning an escape route out of your home is explicitly essential.
"Take into consideration anything that will hinder you from getting out. The other thing is, we want to make sure we have a clear path to the exit. We want everybody to have a meeting place outside the home once everybody is out," says Bailey. "Have that meeting place where everybody knows that everybody can be accounted for. It makes it easier for the Fire Department once they arrive on the scene and any other emergency services to know where everybody is because that's our main concern."
Bailey says that his Fire Department is looking forward to getting out into schools and the community again to do fire prevention activities this week to help educate everyone on staying safe.
This is the 100th anniversary of Fire Prevention Week and it runs from October 9th to the 15th.