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City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424
Contact: Mia Vacanti, Communications Intern
Phone 952-833-9522 • commintern@EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Edina Fire Gears Up for Fire Prevention Week
Edina, Minn., Sept. 21, 2015 – Each year in October, the Edina Fire Department recognizes Fire
Prevention Week by visiting elementary classrooms around the community to teach children about fire safety.
This year, Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 4-10. The theme is “Hear the Beep Where You Sleep!”
“The key message of this year’s campaign is about having smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each
sleeping area and on every level of the home,” said Fire Inspector Brian Hanrahan. “In the classrooms, we talk
to kids about locating where the smoke detectors are in their homes and having a fire escape plan, just like
they do at school.”
According to the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA), half of home fire deaths happen between 11
p.m. and 7 a.m. when people are sleeping. One quarter of home fire deaths were caused by fires that started
in bedrooms and three out of five home fire deaths happen in homes with no working smoke alarms. Smoke
alarms should be tested once a month and should be replaced every 10 years. Every home needs working
smoke alarms, as well as a fire escape plan.
“Kids learn about fire safety and fire escape plans in school, but we want that to carry over so they are
practicing fire safety at home, too,” Hanrahan said. “It’s important that they know where the fire extinguisher
is located, if the smoke alarms are working in their bedrooms and how to get out of their house in case of an
emergency. It should be a conversation that all kids have with their parents.”
Since 1922, Fire Prevention Week has been observed on the Sunday through Saturday period in which Oct.9
sits, and was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Organized by the NFPA, every
year has a new theme in order to inform people about the best ways to practice fire safety.
For more information, visit www.EdinaMN.gov/Fire or follow the Public Safety Blog at blogs.EdinaMN.gov
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