REGINA - The Government of Saskatchewan has formally recognized Oct. 9-15 as the 100th Fire Prevention Week in the province.
That took place Wednesday at an event at the legislature that included Premier Scott Moe, Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency President Marlo Pritchard and Saskatchewan Association of Fire Chiefs President Mike Kwasnica.
Also on hand were local Grade 3 and 4 students from Ecole St. Pius school, who spent the afternoon touring fire equipment and meeting mascots Sparky the Dog and Smokey Bear.
Inside the legislature building, the Grade 3 and 4 students peppered the Premier and fire officials with questions about firefighting and other topics. The students also were able to get their red fire helmets signed by the Premier and fire officials.
This marks the 100th anniversary of Fire Prevention Week. This year the theme across the province is “Fire Won’t Wait, Plan Your Escape,” with people across the province encouraged to think of how they would escape a fire in their residence.
A lot of the fire prevention messaging is directed at young people from an early age, through fire hall tours and events like the one at the legislature. The thinking is they can take those fire prevention messages back to their homes.
“You can play a very important role in being fire safe and fire smart in your own home,” said Premier Moe to the students. “You should know what to do, you should know where to go when one of those alarms goes off.”