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Announcements: FESTIVAL IMAGES
October 17th, 2011

Announcements: Climate Change Research on Salt Marsh and Estuarine Communities in the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge
October 15th, 2011

Announcements: Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) Community Update
October 14th, 2011

Announcements: Ask A Lawyer
October 13th, 2011

Announcements: CEDAR KEY LIONS PARTICIPATE IN OCTOBER VISION AWARENESS MONTH
October 13th, 2011

Announcements: Enjoy the Outdoors at Your Own National Wildlife Refuges
October 12th, 2011

Announcements: JAMES AND PATRICIA DEES INDUCTED INTO THE FLORIDA FFA HALL OF FAME
October 11th, 2011

Announcements: Eve Shaw Benefit
October 10th, 2011

Announcements: It’s Fire Prevention Week. Protect your Family from Fire!
October 10th, 2011

Announcements: Friends of the Lower Suwannee - Coming Events
October 9th, 2011

Announcements: Celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week at Cedar Keys’ Light Station
October 7th, 2011

Announcements: GET YOUR FLU SHOT IN CEDAR KEY
October 6th, 2011

Announcements: FLU VACCINE CLINIC COMES TO CEDAR KEY NEXT WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY
October 6th, 2011

Announcements: Walk to End Alzheimer’s
October 5th, 2011

Announcements: Cedar Key Yoga Group - Meets Again
October 4th, 2011

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It’s Fire Prevention Week. Protect your Family from Fire!

It’s Fire Prevention Week. Protect your Family from Fire!

Robert Robinson

Cedar Key Fire Department Encourages Residents to Keep their Homes Safe
During Fire Prevention Week, October 9-15, 2011

What`s the best way to protect your family from fire? Be ahead of the game, of course. With more than 360,000 home fires reported in the United States in 2009, according to the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), your best defense is a good offense. That`s why Cedar Key`s Fire Department is teaming up with NFPA during the October 9-15, 2011, to let our community know: "It`s Fire Prevention Week. Protect your Family from Fire!" This year`s campaign focuses on preventing the leading causes of home fires - cooking, heating and electrical equipment, as well as candles and smoking materials. Additionally, it urges people to protect their homes and families with life-saving technology and planning.

"In 2009, 2,565 people died in home fires. Nearly all of these deaths could have been prevented by taking a few simple precautions like having working smoke alarms and a home fire escape plan, keeping things that can burn away from the stove and always turning off space heaters before going to bed," says Robert Robinson of the Cedar Key Fire Department. "Fire is a dangerous opponent, but by anticipating the hazards, you are much less likely to be one of the nearly 13,000 people injured in home fires each year."


Cedar Key Fire Department offers the following tips for protecting your home and family from fire:

* Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.
* Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment, like the furnace, fireplace, wood stove, or portable space heater.
* Have a three-foot "kid-free zone" around open fires and space heaters.
* Replace or repair damaged or loose electrical cords.
* If you smoke, smoke outside.
* Use deep, wide ashtrays on a sturdy table.
* Blow out all candles when you leave the room or go to bed. Avoid the use of candles in the bedroom and other areas where people may fall asleep.

"While preventing home fires in Cedar Key is always our number one priority, it is not always possible," Robinson continued. "Cedar Key`s residents need to provide the best protection to keep their homes and families safe in the event of a fire. This can be achieved by developing an escape plan which you practice regularly and equipping homes with life-saving technologies like smoke alarms and home fire sprinklers."


The following tips will help keep your family safe if there is a fire in your home:

* Install smoke alarms inside each bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of the home (including the basement).
* Interconnect all smoke alarms in the home so when one sounds, they all sound.
* Test smoke alarms at least monthly and replace all smoke alarms when they are 10 years old or sooner if they do not respond when tested.
* Make sure everyone in your home knows how to respond if the smoke alarm sounds.
* Pull together everyone in your household and make a plan. Walk through your home and inspect all possible ways out. Households with children should consider drawing a floor plan of your home, marking two ways out of each room, including windows and doors.
* If you are building or remodeling your home, consider installing home fire sprinklers.

To learn more about "It`s Fire Prevention Week. Protect your Family from Fire!" visit NFPA`s Web site at http://www.firepreventionweek.org .

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