Klarides-Ditria: Honoring heroes during Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 9-15

This is the 100th anniversary of Fire Prevention Week and the perfect time to update your personal home safety plan.  According the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), this year’s campaign is titled “Fire won’t wait. Plan your escape™”, and is designed to educate everyone about simple but important actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe from home fires. NFPA says today’s homes burn faster than ever and you may have only seconds to safely escape a home fire from the time the smoke alarm sounds. Your ability to get out of a home during a fire depends on early warning from smoke alarms and advance planning. It’s important to have working smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers and an escape plan planned and practiced by the whole family. For more information and tips on how to create a safety plan, please go to the NFPA website.

I hope you’ll also join me in pausing to recognize the brave and selfless men and women of the fire services who put their lives on the line to protect our community. In recognition of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service, an observance honoring the sacrifices of firefighters who have died in the line of duty, Gov. Lamont directed U.S. and state flags in Connecticut be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Sunday, Oct. 9. Accordingly, since no flag should fly higher than the U.S. flag, all other flags – including state, municipal, corporate, or otherwise – should also be lowered during this same duration of time. Sincerely,