Fire Prevention Week begins with safety lessons and fire hall tours

NEGAUNEE — For over ninety years, communities across the country have observed Fire Prevention Week in memory of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Students at Lakeview Elementary School in Negaunee began this week with a little help from the Negaunee Township Fire Department.

This year’s theme is ‘Don’t Wait, Check the Date’— a reminder to both children and their parents that smoke detectors need to be replaced every ten years. Firefighters visited first through fourth graders to help deliver that message, and Kindergarteners got a chance to visit the Township Fire Station, where they got to interact with firefighters and see their life–saving equipment.

“It’s an opportunity for us, too, to have fun with the kids,” said First Captain Dale Rogers. “It’s just something that I look forward to every year. I’ve been a member for 31 years; this is my 29th year of doing it. I think that this right here is what keeps me around.”

Monday’s events were just the first of many that students can look forward to throughout the week. Fire extinguisher and safety house demonstrations are coming up over the next couple of days. Firefighters from both the township and city departments will be setting off sirens on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. to signal students to practice their home fire escape plans with their families.