(SitNews) - Governor Sean Parnell signed a proclamation announcing October 2011 as “Firefighter Appreciation Month” in Alaska. Governor Parnell urges Alaskans to recognize the important role of firefighters in keeping our children, families, and communities safe.

There are over 4,800 firefighters in Alaska, including paid, volunteer, and military members, serving in 249 State, military, industrial, and standard fire departments statewide. These public servants respond to emergencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year without hesitation and are involved in many community programs when not responding to emergencies.

Firefighters receive extensive training and attend hundreds of hours of class room education enabling them to respond to a wide range of hazardous situations. This commitment unfortunately requires the firefighter to spend many hours away from home and family.

As firefighters focus on public fire and life safety education during the month of October, it is important for Alaskan's to remember the commitment and dedication of these public servants. Alaskans should make a special effort to thank their local firefighters for the job that they do.

Governor Sean Parnell also signed a proclamation announcing October 2011 as "Fire Prevention Month" in Alaska. Governor Parnell urges Alaskans to protect their loved ones and possessions by focusing on fire safety. The Fire Prevention Month theme for 2011 is "Protect Your Family From Fire".

In 2010 75% of all structure fires in Alaska occurred in residential structures and all 12 civilian fire fatalities occurred in residential structure fires. The two major causes for home fires in Alaska are unsafe heating practices and unattended cooking. Both of these causes are preventable by following simple fire safety tips in your home. Fire Departments throughout the State will be conducting fire safety and prevention programs in schools and public gatherings focusing on this year’s theme.

In an effort to reach all Alaskans with lifesaving fire safety tips, the Alaska Division of Fire and Life Safety has launched a new fire safety iPhone application called "Burny's Fire Safety App". This new iPhone application can be downloaded free of charge through iTunes. Burny's Fire Safety App will also be available for the Android operating system by the end of October 2011. The application is a fun interactive way to learn fire safety in and around your home. Burny's Fire Safety App joins Burny's Facebook page and Raven Island online fire safety game to promote fire safe behavior throughout Alaska and the World Wide Web. Go to http://www.akburny.com for more fire safety tips.

Following these fire safety messages can prevent a fire from starting. Having working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms is important in case a fire does happen. Install, test and maintain your alarms to alert you in case of a fire. Remember that a home fire suppression sprinkler system in conjunction with working smoke alarms gives you the best chance of surviving a fire. Plan and practice your fire escape regularly.

Source of News: 

Alaska Department of Public Safety
www.dps.state.ak.us

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