On October 28, NFSA Staff members in Minnesota attended the National Fire Prevention Month open house activities hosted by the New Brighton Public Safety Department, Fire Division. There we met some tireless advocates of fire prevention and home fire safety, including Firefighter and NFSA member, Jeremy Berger. Jeremy was spearheading many of the activities at the open house, including a “fire safety scavenger hunt” for the little ones (visit all the various safety information booths at the open house and win a fire helmet), apparatus and station tours, refreshments, and an NFSA side by side burn demonstration. Winkler the Fire Sprinkler Coloring Books were a huge hit with the kids!

Outside the fire station, NFSA State Coordinator Tom Brace and North Central Regional Manager Tim Butler conducted interviews on camera for the CTV North Suburbs cable audience that could not attend the open house. NFSA State Coordinator Joel Hewitt briefed the New Brighton fire crew and supervised the ignition and suppression components of the side by side demonstration. Our “burn” took place in the early evening with temperatures in the mid-30’s. One of our largest crowds yet this year gathered to see the demonstration – over 225 in all, including members of the local Public Safety Commission and the cable TV reporters.

Click here to watch the video of the burn:

Smoke alarm activation took place in 12 seconds, with sprinkler activation just 22 seconds after ignition. On the unprotected side of the display, flashover took place in 2 minutes and 3 seconds! Imagine being in your home at 2 o’clock in the morning and waking up to a smoke alarm sounding, and before you even have a chance to wake up the kids and get out of the house, the living room fire has flashed over, traveled down the hallway, blocked the stairway with heat and smoke, and filled the upstairs with deadly smoke and carbon monoxide…..and the fire department has not even been called yet because the fire started just 2 minutes ago! Modern furnishings and room contents create incredibly hot, smoky fires that turn deadly before families can egress the home and before 9-1-1 is even called. These side by side demonstrations are always eye-opening opportunities to show how fast and deadly fires are – and how much faster fire sprinklers are!