The Waltham Fire Department is welcoming local families to a free Open House on Sunday, Oct 13, from 12 to 3 p.m. at the Moody Street Station at 533 Moody St.
The Open House teaches families the best fire and life safety practices. Visitors will be able to tour the Moody Street Station apparatus floor, see some of the vehicles and equipment, and meet some of the department’s firefighters.
The annual Open House comes at the conclusion of the Waltham Fire Department’s weeklong outreach to Waltham Public Schools. Through this annual program, the department’s S.A.F.E. (Student Awareness of Fire Education) educators present important safety lessons to all kindergarten, first- and second –grade students in the city.
The Open House is held in conjunction with National Fire Prevention Week (FPW). FPW is celebrated throughout North America every October and is the oldest U.S. public health observance on record. For more than 100 years, Fire Prevention Week has worked to educate people about the risk of home fires and ways to minimize them.
The official theme of this year’s FPW is “Smoke alarms: make them work for you!” according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). This year’s focus on working smoke alarms comes in response to NFPA data, which shows that the majority of U.S. home fire deaths continue to occur in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. Having working smoke alarms in the home reduces the risk of dying in a home fire by more than half.
“The Waltham Fire Department Open House allows us to reach out to the community and arm local families with fire safety tips and procedures,” said Lt. Mike Murphy, the department’s public information officer. “We look forward to meeting residents and preparing them on how to react if a fire does start.”
For more information about the Waltham Fire Departments Open House, call Lt. Mike Murphy at (781) 314-3717.
