As part of Fire Prevention Week, Bargersville Community Fire Department conducted safety seminars for children at elementary schools in the fire district.
A home fire claims a life every three hours in the United States and firefighters are doing their part to prevent a tragedy in our district.
Capt. Jason Ramey leads the department’s Fire Prevention effort and is assisted by fellow firefighters in delivering the safety messages.
What Ramey teaches children could save their life as well as other family members. Children make up 15 percent to 20 percent of all fire deaths in the United States and are responsible for starting nearly 8,000 residence fires each year.
Adding creditability to Wednesday’s lesson at Union Elementary, which serves children from a rural area of BCFD’s district, are some sobering statistics. According to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with the United States Fire Administration and Consumer Product Safety Commission:
·         Death rates in rural communities are more than twice the rates in large cities and more than three times higher that rates in large towns and small cities.
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            Children younger than age five have a higher risk of fire injury and death than older children.
 
·         Adults age 65 and older are twice as likely as any other age group to die in a home fire.
 
·         Many rural homes are far away from fire stations, so it takes longer for the fire department to respond. Within minutes, an entire home may be destroyed by fire.
 
·         Limited water supply in rural areas can make it hard to put out a fire.
 
·         More fires occur during cold weather and heating fires are the leading cause of home fires in rural areas.
 
·         Electrical fires are three times more likely to occur in homes more than 40 years old than in homes 11 to 20 years old.
·         Half of the homes in the United States are 50 years or older.