By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Fire Marshal Tony Arpin notes that the department does its best to start education young for Fire Prevention Week.
"We go to all the Hutchinson schools and we try to teach the kids about fire safety, what they need to do," Arpin said. "We send them home with homework every year. One of those things is to talk to their family about getting a fire escape plan, a fire drill, a home fire drill. We talk to them about testing their smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors."
Arpin notes that fires burn a lot faster these days.
"Years ago, 20 to 25 years ago, you used to have ten, twelve, sometimes fifteen minutes to get out of a house fire," Arpin said. "Anymore, a residential house fire, you have maybe two minutes to get out. The fire grows so much faster. You don't have near as much time as you used to."
The key to a successful escape plan is having an outside meeting place.
"They need to learn every way out of the house," Arpin said. "Not just the doors, but they need to learn how to get out of the windows. How to unlock the windows, open them up, how to get the screens out. Then we teach them you know, once you're outside, you don't go back inside for anything. Not if you left a pet, nothing. Once you're out, you stay out. We teach them, go to their meeting place. Everybody in their family pick one spot where everybody meets. That's always the most important thing that we want to know when we show up is that everybody's out of that house."
Fire Prevention Week is October 3-9, 2021.