Crime & Safety
Syosset FD Hosts Annual Fire Prevention Day
Huge turnout makes for great day as Syosset's volunteer firefighters teach children and adults valuable fire safety lessons.
The Syosset Fire Department hosted its Annual Fire Prevention Day "Open House" on Sunday from 12-4 p.m. at FD headquarters at 50 Cold Spring Road as part of Fire Prevention Week. Syosset's volunteer firefighters and emergency personnel performed rescue demonstrations, fire drills from simulated smoke-filled rooms, hands-on fire extinguisher training, and taught children and adults a number of valuable fire safety lessons.
"We want to teach the community how to be safe in their homes," Syosset Fire Commissioner Giovanni Graceffa said. "We want to teach them what to look for in terms of potential hazards in the home. We want to teach them in the event of a fire what they need to do to get out of the home safely."
The Syosset Fire Department set up a number of demonstrations for the public to see. A mock home was used to show people how quickly a fire can spread inside of a home. A car was also set on fire to show people how quickly a fire can engulf a car. It was explained that the best thing to do in that situation is to get as far away from the vehicle as possible. There was also the "Smoke House" which is used to teach children the proper way to avoid smoke and exit a home in case of a fire.
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"We want to give fire protection awareness to the community to teach them about fire safety," Syosset Fire Department Commissioner Frank Vasile said. "We want to invite them into our home to see what we do on a daily basis and the equipment and the techniques that we have in order to keep them safe in the community. The day is going great. It's a great turnout and we're getting a lot positive feedback."
The Syosset Fire Department felt it was important to show the residents in attendance the proper techniques and protocol to exit the home in the event of a fire.
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"We want to teach them basic things like EDITH, which is a central meeting point outside the home," Graceffa said. "EDITH stands for 'Exit Drills in the Home.' It's basically a bunch of practices that a family should do so in the event of an actual fire they already know what needs to take place, they already know what to do."
Children and adults were also able to take a ride on the fire trucks to see what it feels like to answer a fire call.
"The overall goal is to demonstrate to people what the fire department actually does so they can see how fire progresses," said John Capobianco, the Chief of the Syosset Fire Department. "A lot of times the normal citizen doesn't see these things, so this gives them a chance to see what we do and maybe shed a different light on what people think about the fire department."
In addition to the firefighting and rescue demonstrations, there was also free hotdogs, popcorn, apple cider and drinks. The Masonic Child Identification Program was there for the kids to be fingerprinted, photographed and have vital information recorded such as name, age, height, weight, eye and hair color, allowing parents to create a kit to turn over to police in cases of emergencies.
"It's a great day," Graceffa said. "We always look forward to this day. It's a lot of fun."
