The month of October is set aside to recognize Fire Prevention awareness Month. This is a great time to review your home evacuation plans, check your smoke detector batteries, and overall give some consideration to what you do or don’t do to prevent fires within the home.

Last week, I had the opportunity to assist at a fire scene, and once again marveled at the well-oiled machine that is our volunteer fire services within Kewaunee County. The fire required response and assistance from multiple agencies within Kewaunee County and even a few from outside of our county.

From the moment of the original call to the time when the last engine left the scene after the flames were extinguished, these men and women transition from their typical role in our community to their role as life savers and property preservers. These incidents do not just pull them away from work and family for an hour or two. This specific fire started at 3:08 p.m. and lasted until 12:04 a.m.  We owe a great deal of gratitude for what these men and women do every day to keep us safe.

So what can we do help? As I stated in the first part of this article, the month of October is an awareness month for fire prevention. Take the time to look at your property, and your habits and ask yourself if there are measures you can take to mitigate the potential for fire either in your home in your garage or other places such as vehicles, boats and RV’s.

We can also assist by considering the possibility of becoming a volunteer firefighter. These roles are getting harder and harder to fill and for these essential volunteer services to continue it will take commitment on all of our parts. I can promise that you won’t regret it as these agencies have a great deal of professionalism and camaraderie that is rare to find in our society today.

Another way we can help is by being aware and giving courtesy to those fire units as they respond to the scene. This is probable one of the most common concerns by all first responders in that people are not paying attention and fail to yield to emergency vehicles.

And finally take the time to find out who these men and women are in our community and thank them when you see them. Many times you can identify them by the pagers they wear on them faithfully every day no matter where they may be. I had the privilege of being a firefighter for 13 years and can recall many events where the pager went off thus abruptly ending my presence at birthdays, weddings, and I believe the application for my wedding license (Much to my wife’s frustration).

Thank you to all in Fire Services! Stay Safe!

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: Fire prevention starts at home