Dozens of area families with children showed up for the 10th annual Clear Lake Fire Dept. Open House last weekend to help learn more about safety in their homes and on the roads. The kids also got to meet some of the area firefighter heroes and pose for pictures with Cappy, the fire department dalmatian mascot. 

 

This year's fire prevention theme was "Hear the beep where you sleep; every bedroom needs a working smoke alarm," and it focuses on making sure every bedroom or sleeping area and every level of every home is equipped with a smoke alarm.

 

“While we’ve long suspected that many people don’t know they need a smoke alarm in each bedroom, the questionnaire we posted last year confirmed those suspicions,” said Lorraine Carli, National Fire Protection Association’s vice president of Outreach and Advocacy. “Fire Prevention Week presents the perfect opportunity to better educate the public about this potentially life-saving message.”

 

According to NFPA statistics, half of all U.S. home fire deaths occur at night between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., when people are most likely to be sleeping. Having a working smoke alarm in the home cuts the risk of dying in a fire in half. These facts underscore the extreme importance of having working smoke alarms in all bedrooms.

 

Brothers Fire & Security out of Elk River came out to the event and gave demonstrations on how to put out fires and allowed guests to fire off some extinguishers in a safe environment. Brothers Fire & Security is an experienced fire suppression system and complete life safety solutions company and they design, build, install, inspect and service commercial and residential fire sprinkler, alarm and suppression systems. 

 

Clearwater Royalty were also on hand including Brianna Zackman, Taylor Killinger and Lexi Studenski. Studenski was involved in a major car crash in May that the Clear Lake Fire Dept. responded to and Studenski’s seatbelt  was credited with saving her life. Unfortunately, Studenski’s friend and driver — Jade Posterick of Foley — died in the two-vehicle accident in Palmer Township. 

 

Saturday, the CLFD had a shirt made up for her that said, “Buckle Up” on the front and Studenski passed out “buckle up” stickers to the kids.

 

Andy’s Towing of St. Cloud was also on hand to demonstrate how strong seatbelts really are — so they suspended a car in the air just by its seatbelts to get the point across. Andy's Towing is a professional  towing service specializing in heavy duty recovery, grain vac service, wheel lift towing for cars, motorhomes, motorcycles and buses, along with flatbed and landoll services.

 

The CLFD also gave a demonstration on live extrication from a wrecked vehicle. Dozens of spectators gathered around the Saturn car and watched, took photos and even videotaped the process the firefighters go through to get a person out of a vehicle where the doors won’t open.

 

All in all, it was a perfect weather-wise day and all who attended were sure to have gleaned something important from the event to bring home and make their home life and passage on roads safer places to be.

 

The City of Clear Lake has a 30-member volunteer fire and rescue department. They currently offer fire protection, rescue and medical response to a 75 square mile area. Chief Ron Koren and all the members of the department are trained in both firefighting and emergency medical treatment.