Sheridan Fire-Rescue Promoting 100 Years Of Fire Prevention Week With Tours And Open House

For 100 years, there’s been one week of the year when firefighters put extra emphasis on preventing a fire, and what better way to learn than by visiting a firefighting station to visit and learn from those who battle blazes on a regular basis.

This week is fire prevention week which was started 100 years ago by the National Fire Protection Association, to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

A number of elementary school classes scheduled a field trip this week, to visit the Sheridan Fire and Rescue station and tour the facility, as well as check out the equipment that firefighters use in certain situations.

Chad Brutlag is the Division Chief of Operations within Sheridan Fire-Rescue.

He says visiting and touring a fire station can give people a better perspective on what goes on in the station, when firefighters are not out on a call.

“I think that a lot of the shows that are portrayed on television show firefighters just kind of sitting around, waiting for that next call. In busy systems, like in the big cities, that may be the case to some extent, just because there’s a lot more people, there’s a lot more going on, there’s a lot more emergencies.”

Brutlag adds firefighters don’t stay in the fire station the entire time, when they’re in between calls.

At times they’re out and about scouting neighborhoods and putting together an early plan for a particular area, should a call come in.

“The city is growing, we’ve got more people here, so it’s important for us to be out in the community, understanding what new roads, new subdivisions are coming in, how to get access to those, where water supplies, the fire hydrants are, in case we need them for a fire, so there’s lots of things that we’re that constantly doing and not necessarily just sitting around at the table waiting for that next alarm.”

This Saturday (October 15th), Sheridan Fire-Rescue will host an open house from 10am until 2pm at the downtown station.

Firefighting personnel will provide tours of the station and provide educational challenges for the public.

Click here to see photos from the Sagebrush Elementary School Kindergartener’s Field Trip To The Station.