WHEN: Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at 12 noon.

WHERE: The rear of the Division of Fire Training complex, located at the rear of 3675 Parsons Avenue.

WHY: More than 80 percent of all fire deaths occur in the home. The Columbus Division of Fire is using this important event to help people of every age understand how dangerous a home fire is, and how important prevention, detection, suppression and escape are.

This demonstration is part of the Fire Team USA workshop, which is being held at the Columbus Fire Training Center on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 and Thursday, August 5, 2010. Fire Team USA is a federally funded Fire Prevention grant administered by the Department of Homeland Security, Assistance to Firefighters grant program.  For more information about Fire Team USA, visit www.fireteamusa.com or the event, please contact David Sawyer, Lieutenant, Fire Prevention Bureau, 645-5668.

Live Safe Foundation is an Ohio based non-profit organization (501c3), and leading grassroots movement, devoted to making and fire and life safety education, awareness initiatives and life saving tools available on a broad basis to communities, campuses, and institutions in an effort to reduce national fire fatalities and fire losses. Live Safe aims to help finance fire safety education where means are otherwise unavailable. Live Safe is developing and sponsoring programs to help groups find the resources needed to advance individual and community fire safety.

No matter what city, town, or village you live in, you are protected by a firefighter. Firefighters have been around in the United States since the 1700’s. Over the years, firefighting has changed techniques and technology to what is has evolved into today. No matter where you go, there are firefighters on the ready – prepared to respond and help a nameless person out of a small personal crisis or by working on chaotic disasters that helps out many. Regardless of the emergency, firefighters have taken the oath to help people.

Men and women who become firefighters become one for one of many reasons. Family tradition is alive and well in many departments throughout this country. You will walk into any firehouse and find that somewhere in the department there are fathers, son, mothers, brothers, and sisters working at the same department or another one down the street. Similar to farming, this career usually stays within family blood lines.

Adrenaline seekers are another common group of firefighters. These firefighters are the ones that enjoy learning rescue techniques; hanging from a rope, in a fast moving river, in a collapsed building, and in a pond full of ice. Each type of rescue has its own set of threats that creates dangerous situations that these types of firefighters live for.

Another group is the inspired. This group has been in a precarious situation where firefighters responded and save their day. They witnessed firsthand how firefighters work together to get a job done. In doing so, they realized that they enjoyed that type of work and have been inspired to pay that forward to the next person needing firefighter’s assistance.

Through it all, these men and women come together with a vast array of reasons but the common denominator for becoming a firefighter is knowing that at any moment a citizen of their community will need their help and helping people is the bottom line to what firefighters do.

Guest Author: Captain Bill Piwtorak; Liberty Township Fire Department

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