The Palm Coast City Council recognized the Palm Coast Fire Department for Fire Prevention Week 2024. Since 1922, the National Fire Protection Agency has sponsored Fire Prevention Week during the week of October 9th, which commemorates the Great Chicago Fire. This year’s theme: Smoke Alarms: Make them work for you.”
Driver Engineer Katelyn Baller leads the Fire Prevention public outreach for the Fire Department. “Our department has established a Key Performance Indicator to keep fires contained to the room of origin 75% of the time,” Driver Engineer Baller said. “Through education, we can help prevent fires and provide our residents with the skills and knowledge on how to keep a fire confined.”
Throughout October, the Palm Coast Fire Department will visit all of the elementary, Pre-K, and VPK schools within the city. Nearly 10,000 students will learn the importance of fire safety throughout the month. Fire safety education isn’t just for school children. Teenagers, adults, and the elderly are also at risk of fires, making it important for every member of the community to take some time every October during Fire Prevention Week to make sure they understand how to stay safe in case of a fire. The department has recorded several fire prevention successes.
In 2015, a 7-year-old student at the Imagine School at Town Center used what he had just recently learned to help him and his brother escape from a residential fire in western Flagler County. In 2020, a student at Rymfire Elementary used what she had learned during Fire Prevention Week to extinguish a fire in her home and call 911.
Lastly, the Palm Coast Fire Department reminds our residents of the importance of having a working smoke detector; smoke detectors save lives. It is recommended that the batteries in smoke detectors be changed when the clocks change for daylight savings. Residents needing assistance may request firefighters to perform a free home inspection and assist with changing smoke detector batteries to ensure their home is fire-safe.
For more information, contact the Palm Coast Fire Department at 386-986-2844. More photos are available on the Palm Coast Fire Department’s Facebook Page. You can also follow @PalmCoastFire on Twitter for more updates.