The Raymond Fire Rescue Department had a full month of activities in October to teach fire safety to children and adults in the community.

This year the department provided fire safety training for 260 children at Raymond Elementary School and for another 63 at local day cares and at the Raymond Library. The children at the school and the day cares all received a Halloween trick-or-treat bag that included fire safety literature for their parents along with a card parents can use to reinforce the fire safety messages their children were taught.

A poster coloring event was held for the elementary school and fourth-grader Grace Gillies won a ride in a fire truck for her poster.  Every grade had a winner, and those winners were presented with fire extinguishers at the school assembly Oct. 25.

More than 100 family members attended a Fire Department open house on Oct. 12. Food was served, children got to try their hand at squirting water and CPR compressions, and adults tried using a fire extinguisher.

Here are three things for all families to consider:

• Check your smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms monthly to be sure they are operating. Working detectors save lives. Most detectors only have an operating life of 7 or 10 years, so check the instructions and replace outdated detectors.
• Make sure everyone knows where the meeting place outside is, and that no one should stop on the way to it for anything or go back into the home for any reason. Furnishings today burn very hot and fast.
• Everyone should close their doors at night to prevent smoke and flames from entering bedrooms. If the smoke alarm goes off and you cannot evacuate, keep the door closed, open a window and throw things outside so the firefighters know where you are.

All families with children should review the fire safety videos that Raymond Fire and Rescue Dept. has online. For K-2 students, an under 6-minute video shows a firefighter suiting up, and why he is “not scary” at  raymondmaine.org/content/suiting. For students in grades  3 and 4, an under 12- minute video discusses kitchen safety and how children should escape from their bedrooms at night if there is a fire at raymondmaine.org/content/kitchen-safety.

John Facella is the public safety educator with the Raymond Fire Department.