BATH

After the state saw 11 lives lost in house fires in recent months, a local fire department is stepping up its public outreach during the new year in efforts to prevent such tragedies through education.

In 2015, the Bath Fire Department plans to introduce a new public education program in the City of Bath. The goal is to provide education to the community about fire prevention and safety. The department announced recently it will be working with agencies throughout the city to bring fire prevention and safety to multiple age groups and housing demographics in an effort to reach out to as many community members as possible.

Fire prevention education programs will include “Learn Not to Burn” education for children, home fire and burn prevention, courtesy stove and chimney inspections, landlord and tenant responsibilities and a youth fire prevention and intervention program.

Smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detectors will be a component of the fire safety education along with fire extinguisher training, emergency reporting, and of course the department encourages exit drills in the home so family members know multiple ways to get out of the home and where to meet up.

The department is also looking at offering CPR certification classes.

Bath Fire Captain Marc Wood said the department felt it needed to do more with its public education program and take it beyond the annual open house. The open house will continue but the hope is to get into the schools at various levels and teach fire prevention, Wood said. Programs will include a youth fire intervention program and the department will ramp up its training so there is at least one member per shift able to respond to issues concerning juvenile fire setters, whether as the result of a fire, or to talk to a concerned parent or if contacted by the school.

Gov. Paul LePage announced in early December that the State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Maine Chapters of the Red Cross, and local fire departments “are working to provide smoke detectors to those who do not have them in their home. The focus is to get smoke detectors into every home.” He noted that 60 percent of residential fire deaths result from fires in homes without working smoke alarms.

The Bath Fire Department also will be working with the Bath Housing Authority, Wood said, to do fire education training, especially for the elderly. A system is now in place so that as the department responds to EMS calls, if it notes safety issues or hazards, they can be passed onto the housing authority which can work with landlords to address them. There are many apartments in Bath and many old homes converted into apartments, so it is important to make sure they are safe.

The department is also working to provide information to landlords and tenants regarding smoke detector requirements. It also aims to expand its fire extinguisher training, which it now does for city employees and interested businesses that want the training. The whole goal, Wood said, is prevention through education.

A long standing service many may not know about, are the courtesy stove and chimney inspections. These aren’t code enforcementrelated inspections, Wood said but firefighters are instead looking to make sure the chimney is clear, for example, and give the homeowner peace of mind. A big source of structure fires the department is called to during the heating months are caused by chimney fires that extend from the chimney to inside the home.

There have been a lot of fires in the state lately resulting in fatalities which draw a lot of attention, “and we want to make sure that kind of stuff doesn’t happen in our community, and that we can be part of the prevention and education process,” Wood said, so that when there is a fire, Bath Fire Department is “not just the department that shows up and puts it out.”

For those with questions about fire prevention and safety in your home or business or have interest in becoming involved with this program, call the Bath Fire Department at 443-5034.