This past Saturday, October 11, 2014, the Prospect Heights Fire District opened its doors to residents during their annual Open House. Each year our annual Open House coincides with National Fire Prevention Week which commemorates the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. This year’s theme was smoke alarms and residents were invited to come learn about the important role smoke alarms play in keeping us safe. “Almost three of five reported home fire death in 2007 to 2011 resulted from fires in homes where there were no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.” according to the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) website. “Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in reported home fire in half,” as well states the NFPA.

Not only did the Fire District discuss the importance of smoke alarms but our District was able to showcase some of our special team’s equipment for our residents. The Fire District is part of Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) Division III, which was established in 1970 to provide a quick, standardized and effective method of mutual aid assistance for mass causality incidents or extra fire alarms. MABAS allows departments to effectively share the cost of specialized teams for hazardous material spill control, underwater rescues and recovery and specialized cave-in or high-angle rescues. The District showcased the Haz Mat Decon III Vehicle, the Dive Team’s Specialized Underwater Equipment and the Trench Rescue Team (TRT) demonstrated confined space rescues and high angle rope rescues this year.

We hope you had a chance to stop by and learn a little more about our District, join us for a free lunch and enjoy the wonderful fall weather we had this past Saturday. As always we thank our residents for their continued support and for yet again another successful Open House event, we hope to see you all again next year.