Video: Starkville Promotes Fire Safety Month

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — October is fire safety month, and some volunteers are hosting events throughout Starkville to help raise awareness.

With colder temperatures comes more fires, that’s why some volunteers with the American Red Cross, Starkville Police Department and the Mississippi Department of Health are going door to door making sure Starkville residents stay safe this coming winter.

“We are going into neighborhoods that really need this help those that have lots of fires and fire fatalities and our hope is over the next five years to really reduce those numbers,” says Nicholas Garbacz.

The American Red Cross says Starkville is one of three towns with the most fire fatalities in North Mississippi, including Greenville and Grenada.

Through this outreach, volunteers are not only installing free smoke detectors, but are making sure residents have a fire plan.
“We are making sure people understand how to develop an escape plan and implement that. People have to be out of the house within two minutes and not go back so they need to be prepared to take what they got right next to the bed and head out,” says Garbacz.

For residents like Lanedra Tate, these volunteers could not have come at a better time.

“I was cooking and my smoke detector started going off and after taking the battery out and the smoke cleared putting the battery back in didn’t stop it from going off so I was like maybe it’s defected now because we’ve had it for a long time so I was like I’ll just have to buy another one but thankfully you all were walking the streets today actually passing out free smoke detectors,” says Lanedra Tate.

On the other side of Starkville, Mississippi State held a preparathon to inform residents about more than just fire safety.

One organizer says the community needs to be aware of all possible disasters.
“You can never be too prepared for the different types of hazards and different types of threats just when you think you are prepared there is another type of event that comes up that you weren’t quite prepared for so our mission is to always have those threats on the mind of our community so they can better prepare,” says Ryan Akers.

As more people turn on their heaters, volunteers hope residents keep fire safety tips on their minds.

Proceeds collected at the Preparathon will go towards helping with disaster relief.