Macon-Bibb Fire Department educating public about fire safety as Fire Prevention Week begins

The fire department uses the week to educate community members about fire safety. They urge people to check their smoke alarms every six months and to get them installed in your home if you don't have them.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — It’s Fire Prevention Week, and the Macon-Bibb Fire Department started it with an awards ceremony for its Fire Safety Essay Contest.

The fire department uses the week to educate community members about fire safety. They urge people to check their smoke alarms every six months and to get them installed in your home if you don’t have them.  The fire department also wants families to sit down and make a fire escape plan.

Fire Chief Shane Edwards says the fire department works with schools, because students take what they learn home to their parents.

“We’re delivering that information to them at an early age of fire prevention measures,” Chief Edwards said. “What a smoke alarm is, what a smoke detector is, and how that works. Showing them how quickly they can get out of the house, what it means to stay low if they start seeing smoke, and get out of the house.”

The fire department will spend the next few days out in the community canvassing neighborhoods with fire safety information and giving out smoke detectors.

You can visit them at several Firehouse Sub locations on October 14 from 5-7 p.m.