Throughout the event kids and families could learn about fire prevention information and witness several safety demonstrations.
The parking lot of Mt. Laurel’s Wegmans grocery store was filled with fire, EMS, police and other emergency vehicles on Wednesday night, but there was no danger in sight.
Instead, Oct. 4 marked the Mt. Laurel Fire Department’s annual Fire Prevention Night.
Kids and families who stopped by the event were treated to fire safety information, emergency vehicles on display, a chance to shoot water from a fire hose, demonstrations of fire sprinklers dousing fires and even a live demonstration of firefighters using their equipment to cut open a damaged vehicle.
Fire Chief John Colucci said the annual event ties into Fire Prevention Week from the National Fire Protection Association and gives local residents a chance to learn about fire safety and fire prevention education.
“It brings the community together in one area to show our services, our personnel, what we do and why we do it,” Colucci said.
Colucci said the event also provided a chance for Mt. Laurel’s other emergency services such as police and EMS to showcase their services, and he said it was important for those groups to always stay in touch with the community they serve.
“It gives the community a good sense of the emergency services that are here for them,” Colucci said.
In addition to meeting with personnel, Colucci said he hoped locals spent their time at the event learning about the measures they can take to help prevent or control fires in their homes and respond to emergencies in the community.
From fire sprinklers to CPR training to watching the fire department cut open a car, Colucci said residents at the event could be become better prepared to deal with the emergencies that may arise in their lives.
Also at the event was David Ridenour, chairman of the Mt. Laurel Fire District Board of Commissioners.
Ridenour praised the level of commitment from those serving with Mt. Laurel’s fire department, who in addition to helping with events such as Fire Prevention Night, also spend much of their time training for various certifications and recertifications.
“Training is an ongoing thing. It’s a constant,” Ridenour said.
Frank Ellis, state coordinator with the New Jersey Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board, was also on hand with a display trailer with glass windows where spectators could look in and see just how quickly fire could spread in the average home from a trashcan, to curtains to a ceiling.
According to Ellis, installing a fire sprinkler system in a new home costs about $2 per square foot of the building, which equates to the amount someone might spend on lawn sprinklers or granite countertops in a kitchen.
“It’s nice to have smoke detectors, and everybody relies on them, but smoke detectors don’t do anything to put the fire out — a sprinkler system does, or it allows people time to escape,” Ellis said.
Residents are also invited to visit www.mountlaurelfire.com to learn the answers to additional common safety questions, such as how to tell if a fire extinguisher still works, why there is such a need for carbon monoxide detectors in a home and more.
