GUELPH,
ON, Oct. 6, 2022 /CNW/ - Fire departments
across Canada are teaming up with
Co-operators, CanOps, and the National Fire Protection Association®
(NFPA®) to celebrate 100 years of Fire Prevention Week™ and to
promote this year's campaign, "Fire Won't Wait. Plan Your
Escape™". This year's campaign, Oct.
9-15, works to educate everyone about the simple but
important steps they can take to keep themselves and those around
them safe.
"Fire safety education is important for everyone," said
Maya Milardovic, AVP Government
Relations at Co-operators. "Fire presents a real risk to all of us,
making it important for every member of the community to take these
messages seriously and put them into action, so that you can
protect what matters most."
Fire departments and local Co-operators advisors are encouraging
all residents to actively support this year's Fire Prevention Week
campaign by developing and practicing a home fire escape plan with
all members of their household. Co-operators has donated 200 Fire
Prevention Week kits to fire departments across Canada that include activities and information
for children and adults and provide age-appropriate messages about
home fire safety and prevention.
"Today's homes burn faster than ever. In a typical home fire,
you may have as little as two minutes (or even less time) to safely
escape from the time the smoke alarm sounds." said Laura King, NFPA regional director for
Canada. "Your ability to get
out depends on early warning from working smoke alarms and advance
planning."
"We are very excited to partner with Co-operators and the NFPA®
to have the opportunity to distribute fire safety education
materials to fire departments across Canada," said Mieka
Pittman, VP Enterprise Business Transformation at
CanOps. "The more education and awareness that Canadians have
regarding how to keep themselves and their families safe in home
fires, the more lives will be saved; therefore we encourage all
Canadians to take time to develop their home escape
plans".
Fire departments are sharing the following safety tips this Fire
Prevention Week that focus on home escape planning and
practice:
- Make sure your home escape plan meets the needs of all your
family members, including those with sensory or physical
disabilities.
- Smoke alarms should be installed inside every sleeping room,
outside each separate sleeping area, and on every level of your
home. Smoke alarms should be interconnected so when one sounds,
they all sound.
- Know at least two ways out of every room, if possible. Make
sure all doors and windows open easily.
- Have an outside meeting place a safe distance from your home
where everyone should meet.
- Practice your home fire drill at least twice a year with
everyone in the household, including guests.
- Practice at least once during the day and at night.
For more information about Fire Prevention Week and this year's
theme, "Fire won't wait. Plan your escape." visit www.fpw.org.
Co-operators also has a resource on how to prevent fires at home
and a three-minute PSA on the importance of fire escape planning is
also available as an mp4, upon request.
About Co-operators
Co-operators is a leading Canadian financial services
co-operative, offering multi-line insurance and investment
products, services, and personalized advice to help Canadians build
their financial strength and security. The company has more than
$61.5 billion in assets under
administration. Co-operators has been providing trusted guidance to
Canadians for the past 76 years. The organization is well known for
its community involvement and its commitment to sustainability.
Achieving carbon neutral equivalency in 2020, the organization is
committed to net-zero emissions in its operations and investments
by 2040, and 2050, respectively. Co-operators is also ranked as a
Corporate Knights' Best 50 Corporate Citizen in Canada. For more information, please visit:
www.cooperators.ca.
About the National Fire Protection
Association® (NFPA®)
Founded in 1896, NFPA® is a global self-funded nonprofit
organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and
economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. The
association delivers information and knowledge through more than
300 consensus codes and standards, research, training, education,
outreach and advocacy; and by partnering with others who share an
interest in furthering the NFPA mission. For more information,
visit www.nfpa.org. All NFPA codes and standards can be viewed
online for free at www.nfpa.org/freeaccess.
About CanOps
The Canadian Public Safety Operations Organization (CanOps) is a
national not-for-profit organization formed in 2014 to provide
innovative public safety solutions and services across Canada by bridging people, communities,
industries and governments with the resources they need or becoming
the mortar between the bricks - bringing more people and
organizations to the table.
Through developing new public safety products and education
campaigns, sponsorship opportunities, and partnerships with experts
in the field, CanOps is able to provide the advantage of low
pricing and the accessibility of bilingual, national programs and
material to benefit public safety agencies across Canada. For more information, please visit:
www.canops.org or for public safety education materials, visit
www.canopsstore.org.
For further information and/or interviews, please
contact:
Co-operators
media@cooperators.ca
NFPA
Laura King, regional director
lking@nfpa.org
CanOps
Mieka Pittman, VP Enterprise
Business Transformation
mieka.pittman@canops.org
SOURCE The Co-operators Group Limited