2018/10/08 - Mayor's Column: Fire Prevention Week
“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
The City of O’Fallon is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all those living in and visiting O’Fallon. This includes safety from the threat of fire. O’Fallon’s Fire Department is one of the best around. In fact, due to our superior fire department, O’Fallon’s fire rating was recently upgraded to a level three, a level reserved for the top 15% of all communities in the State of Illinois.
This rating is important. It not only means that our fire protection services are very adequate to combat fire, it may also mean that your property insurance can be lowered. I encourage you to reach out to your insurance provider to check if O’Fallon’s excellent fire rating will help reduce the cost of your insurance premiums for your home.
Our Fire Department does a lot of proactive work, and if the time comes, they respond bravely and swiftly to a fire. However, it is easier to prevent a fire, than it is to fight a fire.
Fire is a serious public safety concern both locally and nationally, and homes are where people are at greatest risk. Home fires killed 2,735 people in the United States in 2016, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
To help protect your family from fire, you should identify places in your home where fires can start and eliminate those hazards. You should also make sure all your smoke alarms are properly functioning. Smoke alarms should be installed in every sleeping room, outside of each separate sleeping area, and on every level of the home.
When a smoke alarm goes off in your home, you should respond immediately by going outside to a designated meeting place. O’Fallon residents that have planned, and practiced, their escape plans are more prepared and much more likely to survive a fire.
O’Fallon’s first responders are dedicated to reducing the occurrence of home fires and home fire injuries through prevention and protection education. Every year, we hold a fire prevention week in O’Fallon. This year, fire prevention week is October 7 – 13, 2018. To help celebrate, the O’Fallon Public Safety Department is hosting an open house at the O’Fallon Fire Department Headquarters (1215 Taylor Road), October 9-11, from 6:30 – 8: 30 p.m.
I encourage you all to visit this event and participate and learn from our first responders on how to prevent fires. The event is free, and the entire community is invited. I hope to see you all there!
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open!