Fire Prevention Week

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Sunday, Oct. 5 - Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025

Take Action Now to Prevent Fires

The Westerville Fire Division (WFD) is encouraging residents to keep simple and effective important fire prevention tips in mind this fall. Many people are familiar with "stop, drop and roll" as a fire safety practice, but the first step in fire safety is actually fire prevention. Fires can cause devastating damage to homes and endanger lives within a matter of minutes. Click here to read fire prevention tips and learn simple, yet effective strategies to protect your home and loved ones.

Smoke Alarms: Make Them Work For You!

The 2024 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Fire Prevention Week (FPW) campaign was “Smoke Alarms: Make Them Work for You!" The goal is to educate everyone about the importance of having working smoke alarms in the home. Smoke alarms save lives. Smoke alarms that are properly installed and maintained play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and injuries. Fire spreads fast—working smoke alarms give you early warning so you can get outside quickly.

Roughly three out of five fire deaths happen in homes with either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
More than one-third (38 percent) of home fire deaths result from fires in which no smoke alarms are present.
The risk of dying in a home fire is cut in half in homes with working smoke alarms.

Remember to INSTALL, TEST, and REPLACE.

Install

Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area (like a hallway), and on each level (including the basement) of the home.

Test

Test smoke alarms at least once a month by pushing the test button.

Replace

Replace all smoke alarms when they are 10 years old or stop responding when tested.

Heed the Beeps!

Heed the Beeps! Focus on the Sounds of Fire Safety

The Westerville Division of Fire (WFD) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) are encouraging residents to “Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety."

In 2020, when many professionals and students were sent home to work remotely, more people began tuning in to the different chirps and tones emitting from their warning systems. It’s from this realization that NFPA organizers say they decided to emphasize the importance of understanding the audible warnings from carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke alarms.

NFPA asks residents to be aware the following list of sounds:

A continuous set of three loud beeps—beep, beep, beep—means smoke or fire. Get out, call 9-1-1, and stay out.
A single chirp every 30 or 60 seconds means the battery is low and must be changed.
All smoke alarms must be replaced after 10 years.
Chirping that continues after the battery has been replaced means the alarm is at the end of its life and the unit must be replaced.

WFD Chief Brian Miller reminds residents to ensure smoke and CO alarms meet the needs of everyone in your home, especially those who are deaf or hard of hearing, those with disabilities and who have adaptive needs.

Learn more about Fire Prevention Week and find resources for individuals who would benefit from adaptive equipment:

Serve Up Fire Safety in the Kitchen!

WFD and NFPA are sharing the following safety tips to help prevent cooking fires:

Never leave food on the stove unattended. Turn off the stove if you have to leave, even if for a short time.
Keep a close eye on simmering, baking, roasting or boiling food, always remain in the home while food is cooking and use a timer to remind you that you are cooking.
Remain alert when cooking. Never cook after taking medicine or drugs or consuming alcohol that makes you drowsy.
Keep an oven mitt and pan lid nearby when you are cooking. If a small grease fire starts, slide the lid over the pan to smother the flame. Turn off the burner, and leave the pan covered until it is completely cool.
Maintain a “kid-free zone” of at least three feet around the stove and areas where hot food or drink is prepared or carried.

Plan and Practice Your Escape

Planning (and practicing) your escape can make a life-saving difference.

Draw a map of your home by using NFPA's helpful grids in English (PDF) or Spanish (PDF) with all members of your household, marking two exits from each room and a path to the outside from each exit.
Practice your home fire drill twice a year. Conduct one at night and one during the day with everyone in your home, and practice using different ways out.
Teach children how to escape on their own in case you can’t help them.

Resources:

Fire Safety Checklist for Caregivers of Older Adults
Fire Escape Checklist
NFPA Home Escape Grids in English (PDF) or Spanish (PDF)

Fire, CO Safety for the Deaf Community, Hard of Hearing

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and WFD are encouraging residents who are deaf or are hard of hearing to ensure they have the correct smoke, fire and CO alarms installed. The NFPA website includes the following tips:

Install a bedside alert device that responds to the sound of the smoke and CO alarms. Use of a low frequency alarm can also wake a sleeping person with mild to severe hearing loss.
Sleep with your mobility device, glasses, and phone close to your bed.
Keep pathways like hallways lit with night lights and free from clutter to make sure everyone can get out safely.

Look, Listen and Learn

As part of this message, residents to are encouraged to LOOK for places a fire could start and resolve potential hazards; LISTEN for the sound of the smoke alarm and LEARN two ways out of every room. WFD and NFPA promote these key messages:

LOOK:
- Check each room in your home for fire risks like flammable materials near heat sources and overloaded extension cords.
LISTEN:
- Make sure everyone in the home understands the sound of the smoke alarm and knows how to respond.
- Test smoke alarms at least once a month using the test button.
LEARN:
- Draw a map of your home by using NFPA's helpful grids in English (PDF) or Spanish (PDF) with all members of your household, marking two exits from each room and a path to the outside from each exit.
- Practice your home fire drill twice a year. Conduct one at night and one during the day with everyone in your home, and practice using different ways out.
- Teach children how to escape on their own in case you can’t help them.
- Make sure the number of your home is clearly marked and easy for the fire department to find.
- Close doors behind you as you leave – this may slow the spread of smoke, heat, and fire.
- Once you get outside, stay outside. Never go back inside a burning building.

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