Fire and Life Safety Education
Citizen Fire Academy
The Alexandria Fire Department's Citizen's Fire Academy gives ordinary people an opportunity to learn about the hard work and exhiliration that comes from doing fire and emergency medical service work.
What happens at the Citizen Academy? Students learn:
- CPR
- How to use a fire extinguisher
- What the different fire and medical vecles do
Other hands-on activities include:
- Climbing a 100' aerial ladder
- Operating a hose line
- Extinguishing a live fire
- Performing search and rescue operations
The Fire Department Citizen Fire Academy will be held several times a year, and is open to residents and employees of the City of Alexandria age 16 or older. If you are interested in learning more about the Alexandria Fire Department by attending the Citizen Fire Academy, call Kim Purcell at 703-706-3940 ext. 231.
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Youth and Senior Education Programs
Pre-schools:
To provide comprehensive fire and life safety education to 4 and 5 year old pre-school children and comprehensive facility fire facility prevention inspections.
As a result of both the fire safety instruction of the pre-school teachers at John Adams Elementary School PreSchool Program and the Fire Department's presentation, one of the Pre-School students who has limited language abilities brought a kitchen fire to the attention of his mother. The mother was giving her baby a bath and had forgotten she had left food cooking on the stove. The pre-school boy saw the smoke and ran to the bathroom screaming. "Mommy, Come! Fire!" The mother was able to handle the situation in a timely and appropriate manner . The mother was so grateful to her son for saving all their lives. She was also very thankful to her son's teachers for helping him learn what to do in this type of emergency.
Elementary Schools:
These programs present grade specific fire education to elementary students.
Education Programs
- Kindergarten: Sparky ABC's of Fire Safety
- 1st Grade : Promise Never To Play With Fire
- 2nd Grade: Be Cool About Fire Safety
- 3rd Grade: SAFE Houses
- 4th Grade: Hazard House
- 5th Grade: Reality vs. Fiction
- 6th Grade: Power of Fire
Each elementary program is scheduled for thirty (30) minutes, with the exception of the SAFE House, which is scheduled for forty-five (45) minutes per class. The sixth grade class is scheduled for sixty (60) minutes.
Senior Fire Safety:
A comprehensive fire and life safety education program for senior citizens throughout the City. This program provides comprehensive fire safety training to staff of Adult Care facilities. Senior fire safety programs are available, by request, to Church, Civic, non-profit organizations, and private individuals. Presentations are conducted using the National Fire Protection Association "Fire and Fall Prevention" program. This program is centered around sixteen key messages, which are adopted into a nostalgia game. Programs are scheduled for sixty (60) minutes.
To schedule a presentation, contact the Fire Department at 703-706-3940 ext 222.
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Smoke Alarm Program
What You Should Know About Smoke alarms
Home fires are a serious threat to your family' s safety. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 5,900 people die and over 200,000 are injured each year by fire in residences. Most home fire injuries and deaths are caused by smoke and toxic gases, not flames. Many deaths and injuries occur in fires that happen while the victims are asleep. Finding a reliable way to awaken sleepers before smoke becomes a life threatening hazard will enable more people to escape uninjured.
There is a way: the home smoke alarm.
How many? One outside each sleeping area, one in each bedroom, and one on each floor, including the basement.
When shopping for smoke alarms you should be sure that the alarm comes with clear and complete instructions, and be UL Listed. These instructions should provide you with information on the proper placement, safe installation, testing and maintenance.
If you wish to purchase smoke alarms for your home or have purchased them already and have not installed them or cannot install them, please call the Alexandria Fire Department or fill out the request form and we will install them free of charge. If you do not have smoke alarms or batteries for them, the Alexandria Fire Department will provide them, at no cost to you. After you submit a request form you will be contacted to schedule a visit.
On visits away from home, whether for business or pleasure, you should be especially alert to the absence of smoke alarms. Also be alert when you plan to sleep in a camper, tent, or private home, since these are facilities that are not affected by local smoke alarm ordinances.
Play it safe. Do not count on the smell of smoke to awaken you and do not assume that you will have plenty of time to get out should a fire occur. Remember that smoke is a silent killer. It is a myth that fires happen to other people. This is perhaps the most dangerous idea of all.
Smoke Detectors DO NOT Prevent Fires, But They Do Save Lives
Testing your alarm is the only way to know for certain if it is operating properly. Every alarm has a button that is labeled "test". This button should be pushed every month. It is also recommended that the battery be replaced twice a year. An annual campaign to promote this concept is " Change Your Clock-Change Your Battery," which reminds us to use the time change to replace batteries.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends replacing smoke alarms every ten years. According to the NFPA, at 15 years, the chances are better than 50150 that your alarm has failed, and that seems to big a risk to take. After ten years of use there is roughly a 30% probability of alarm failure before replacement.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends that people with hearing impairments install smoke alarms with louder alarm signals and /or strobe lights to alert them to a fire. If you purchase one of these smoke alarms, be sure it carries the label of an independent test laboratory. For a list of manufactures that distribute smoke alarms for the hearing impaired, and for more information on this subject, visit the NFPA' s (National Fire Protection Association) Center for High-Risk Outreach at www.nfpa.org The Alexandria Fire Department provides upon request, Photoelectric type residential smoke alarms for the hearing impaired. The unit is AC powered with 9V battery backup. This program is not intended to relieve a landlord of his/her responsibility to provide a visual smoke alarm to a tenant upon request.
Having a working smoke alarm in your home cuts your chances of dying from a fire nearly in half. What else can be done to increase your chances of surviving a fire in your home? Develop and practice a home fire escape plan. Practice your escape plan, with all family members, at least four times a year.
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Fire Safety in the Workplace
This program provides a comprehensive fire safety presentation to various employees of workplaces throughout the City. The training includes the development and approval of fire evacuation plans and requested fire drills.
Presentations are provided in: Fire Safety in the Workplace, "Getting Out Alive", When Fire Strikes (a program for commercial kitchen employees), and Public Assembly Fire Safety. Videos outlining the causes of most workplace fires, ways to prevent them, and emergency actions to follow will be presented. After the videos, participants will complete a written test, which will then be used as a discussion tool. Handout materials are provided. Presentations are scheduled for sixty (60) minutes.
If you would like to schedule a training presentation send an e-mail request to the Public Education Specialist
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Juvenile Fire Starter Intervention Program
Curiosity about fire is a part of every child's growing process, especially between the ages of two and eight. When fascination and fire play turn to repeated intentional fire setting the probability is high that these children may have accompanying psychological problems.
The rate of juvenile fire play and fire setting, short of arson, as determined by fire investigators is also quite high. Fire setting includes a wide range of behaviors in children. From the preschooler who lights a fire out of curiosity to malicious teenagers who set fires in their school. Research shows that approximately 50% of fires set by children arc set out of curiosity or ignorance not out of malicious intent.
Fire setting may he a call for help from a troubled child. This determination could he made by the fire education specialist and if necessary, if an emotional disturbance or an unhealthy family situation is suspected, referrals can be made to the appropriate City Agency.
The Juvenile Fire setter Education and Intervention Program is designed to provide intervention and education to juveniles that have a curiosity of fire and intentional fire setting behaviors and their families. The Alexandria Fire Department works closely with the Department of Juvenile Justice, Alexandria City Schools and Alexandria Mental Health to coordinate the referral , evaluation, fire safety classes, treatment and ongoing case management. Interagency coordination is critical to the success of this program.
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