By Marcy Ost
Happy New Year!
As we slide (pun fully intended) into the new year, we are entering the coldest months of the year. With the cold comes the use of space heaters and other heating appliances. In 2022, ND had a fire caused by heating every single month. As is the case with all of the statistics we’ve looked at recently, the rest of the nation is seeing a decline in the number of fires caused by heating while ND is seeing a steady increase.
Community Risk Reduction
Governor Burgum has declared January 15-21, 2024, Community Risk Reduction (CRR) Week. You can see a copy of the proclamation here.
We will be running an information campaign all week so stay tuned! There is a website dedicated to CRR week here. There is a logo and other toolkit items to help you create your own campaign, or you can share ours!
One of the many duties firefighters often perform for their communities is child passenger safety seat checks. The North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS) conducts training to become a tech on a regular basis, but it’s a commitment of time and money. If that’s not a possibility for your department, you can still help your community by knowing where to find events and techs using this map.
Have you had the opportunity to poke around our website yet? We have a resources section that is steadily growing. Right now, there is a sample press release, outreach guides, carbon monoxide talking points, and a PFAS fact sheet. There are links to several sites including the burn ban map and CPSC’s safety recalls.
The USFA messaging for January is escape planning. “Fire is fast. Plan ahead to save lives.” Suggested messages, graphics, stock photos, handouts, and a video can be found here.