The Levelland Fire Department (LFD) will be holding a Fire Prevention Day on Saturday during “Falling for the Wallace” Fall Festival in downtown Levelland.
According to a flyer on the department’s Facebook, the event will be on Houston Street, between Avenues G and F, from 4-6 p.m. The flyer outlined some activities like seeing Sparky the Fire Dog, meeting with firefighters and learning about fire safety.
LFD’s Ryan Crutcher said attendees can also participate in games and giveaways, and the fire trucks will be at the event for people to see.
Crutcher said fire safety education from the fire department will include training on home devices and evacuation plans for families.
“The more education that we can put out there, maybe the more lives we can save,” Crutcher said.
Interim Fire Chief Patricia Byars-Faulkner said the purpose of fire prevention education is two-pronged: to make sure the house is safe and to make sure everyone is out of the house.
For keeping the house safe, she said that includes making sure the smoke detector works and not overloading plugs.
“If we can keep your house safe, then we’re less likely to be needed,” Byars-Faulkner said. “Really, our job is to put ourselves out of a job.”
People should know two ways out of a house, the interim chief said. In the event of a fire between the residents and the entrance, there’ll another way to leave.
She also said residents should establish a designated meeting place, not including a car that could move or somewhere across the street, so as to avoid children running in the road.
“That way when the parents get there, we’re all accounted for,” Byars-Faulkner said. “When the kids get there, we’re all accounted for.”
She mentioned the importance of smoke detectors; that homeowners need one in every bedroom and hallway going into the bedroom, as well as every floor, as people are most vulnerable while asleep.
“I want to protect those people that need to be woken up to get out of the house,” Byars-Faulkner said.
She said a smoke detector needs its battery changed twice a year, if it’s a model that requires a battery change, and the devices should be replaced every 10 years.
Part of having a smoke detector is practicing the use of it, the interim chief said. Residents should repeat drills so that it eventually turns into muscle memory.
“The point is to get people where they don’t have to think about what they’re gonna do, they just do,” Byars-Faulkner said.
She said a reason they are encouraged to educate at the community is because any fatalities that happen in a city are needless.
“I don’t like fire fatalities; I don’t like them at all,” Byars-Faulkner said. “And I know a lot of fires that we’ve gone to where the smoke detectors woke people up and got them out of the house.”
Just anything they can do to prevent line of duty deaths, she said.
Byars-Faulkner said she hopes the event results in parents and kids practicing and talking about fire safety, as well as residents getting smoke detectors in their homes.