National Fire Prevention Week (NFPW) is Oct. 6-12. Each year, the Collierville Fire Department sponsors a Fire Prevention Poster Contest based on the NFPW theme established by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). This year’s theme is “Not Every Hero Wears a Cape. Plan and Practice Your Escape!”
This campaign recognizes the everyday people who motivate their households to develop and practice a home fire escape plan; these seemingly basic behaviors can have life-saving impact.
“This year’s campaign works to celebrate people of all ages who learn about home fire escape planning and practice, bring that information home, and spur their families to action,” said Lorraine Carli, vice president of Outreach and Advocacy at NFPA. “From young students who learn about the campaign at school to parents who attend a community event like a fire station open house – all of them truly are heroes because they’re taking steps to make their households much, much safer from fire.”
The Collierville Fire Department Poster Contest is open to any Collierville student in grades Kindergarten through twelfth grade. Special needs students have their own divisions. Posters go through a selection process, with staff at each participating school or homeschool program selecting one poster to represent each grade and division. A citywide contest is then held to choose city winners, and those posters are sent to the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office where statewide poster winners are selected. Last year Collierville had six statewide winners.
Some of the basics of a home escape plan include having working smoke alarms on every level of the home, in every bedroom and near every sleeping area; having two ways out of every room (such as a door and a window), and having a clear path to an outside meeting place that is a safe distance from the home. This could be a tree, light pole or mailbox. Home escape plans should be practiced twice a year by all members of a household.
For more information about Fire Prevention Week and “Not Every Hero Wears a Cape. Plan and Practice Your Escape!” visit fpw.org. For information about the local poster contest, contact Erin Daniels, Collierville Fire Department’s Public Education Specialist at 901.457.2485.
