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Fire-Rescue-EMS
Fire Marshal/Public Fire Safety Education Division
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General Information
The single most important non-firefighting activity of a department is its Fire Prevention Inspection effort. This effort permits the department to make great strides in saving lives and protecting property through prevention and education. The importance of this effort is reflected in our Department's mission statement, which places education, prevention and enforcement ahead of actually mitigating a fire.
Under the authority vested in local government agencies by the General Statutes, the City Council adopted the North Carolina Fire Code, which established the frequency of building inspections, permit requirements, inspection/permit fees, penalties for violations and fire lane requirements.
The Fire Code requires inspections and plans review in order to insure that building occupancies are in full compliance with all applicable sections of the Code. These inspections and plans review attest to the compliance of the specific operations within the building, as well as any required fire protection devices or systems.
Fire Safety Education is a year-round mission
Fire Prevention Week is observed every year in early October. However, Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS spends the entire month of October aggressively teaching the children of Washington and Beaufort County Fire Safety.
We stress:
- CHANGING BATTERIES IN YOUR SMOKE ALARMS
- STOP, DROP AND ROLL
- CRAWLING LOW IN SMOKE
- GETTING OUT AND STAYING OUT
- DIALING 9-1-1
We teach children that working smoke alarms are needed in all houses and that the smoke alarm is the only thing that is going to wake us up if we have a house fire. This is why it is so important that we have working smoke alarms and that we test them monthly as well as change the batteries in them when we change our clocks back to Eastern Standard Time in the fall and up to Daylight Savings Time in the spring.
An average of nearly three children a day – approximately 1,000 children under the age of 20 each year – die in house fires. Many of these tragedies could be avoided with working smoke alarms. Eighty percent of these deaths occur in homes without working smoke alarms.
Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS teaches Fire Safety to all ages throughout the entire year, not just during Fire Prevention Week and the month of October. It is the goal of Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS to try to prevent needless deaths as the result of house fires.
TEST MONTHLY TO MAKE SURE THEY WORK
The department is a member of the Northeastern FLSE Association, which is comprised of Fire and Life Safety Educators from across northeastern North Carolina.
Our Fire and Life Safety Programs
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School Programs
Programs include Puppet Shows, Risk Watch,
EDITH (Exit Drills In The Home) and other Fire Prevention activities.
Photo right: A fire safety puppet show teaches fire safety rules to young students at Washington's Eastern Elementary School.
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Kid's Fire Safety House
Program instructing 7-12 year olds on home safety, calling 911 and exiting procedures during emergencies.
Photo right: Elementary school students wait their turn touring the Kid's Fire Safety Home, where they learn about home safety, calling 911, and how to safely exit a home during an emergency.
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Home Inspections
Courtesy inspections of homes within City for fire and life safety hazards. We also do courtesy foster care home inspections.
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PHOTO TO COME!
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Public Fire Safety Information
Fire and life safety presentations to individuals, organizations, clubs, or civic groups from pre-school to senior citizens.
Photo right: In this grease fire demonstration, flames leap out several feet from the stove after a 16-ounce cup of water is poured into a pan of burning grease. Never put water on a grease fire!
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Smoke Alarm Program
Installation of smoke alarms in private homes within the Department's response district.
Photo right: Chief Hardison of Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS installs a smoke alarm on the ceiling inside a Washington home as part of the department's smoke alarm program.
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