District and Home Depot team-up for FPW

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: Karen Eubanks, Public Information Officer
October 2, 2000	(503) 612-0713

(TVF&R and Home Depot Team-Up During National Fire Prevention Week)

National Fire Prevention Week is October 8-14, 2000. This year’s theme, The Great Escape: Check it Out! encourages families to create a fire-safe household by maintaining working smoke alarms, having a home fire escape plan, and thinking about their actions. To assist in helping individuals avoid a fire tragedy, Home Depot will be partnering with fire departments across the state this year. From now until October 27, individuals can pick up a Home Fire Safety Checklist at any Home Depot store (or download at www.sfm.state.or.us). Completed checklists can be returned to any Home Depot store for chance to win a trip to Disneyland and other great prizes.

In support of the campaign, firefighters from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue will also be on-hand Saturday, October 14, at the Beaverton and Tigard Home Depot stores. Numerous fire safety activities are planned between 12-4 p.m., including Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue’s Fire Safety House (a mobile, two-story house with simulated smoke in which children practice escaping from an upstairs bedroom window), antique fire engine rides (weather permitting), and demonstrations on the proper use of a fire extinguisher. Individuals who return their completed Fire Safety Checklists by October 14 will have a chance to win a $100 Home Depot gift certificate. The "Saturday Kids Clinic" will feature wooden fire engines (call individual store for information on time and registration).

To protect your family year-round, TVF&R reminds you to:

Maintain Working Smoke Alarms

Install in the living areas and on each floor of your home
Test and vacuum monthly
Change the battery annually
Consider installing long-life battery smoke alarms

Develop and Practice a Home Fire Escape Plan

Diagram your home - determine two ways out of every room and an outside meeting place
Purchase a fire escape ladder if you have a two-story home / apartment
Ensure that everyone can open windows and doors
Practice with a fire drill

Contact Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue at (503) 649-8577 if you do not have a working smoke alarm. Firefighters will come to your home and, if needed, install an alarm (or batteries) for free. TVF&R’s Residential Smoke Alarm Program is sponsored in part by Platt Electric.