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October is Fire Prevention Month

With cooler weather setting in, the days getting shorter and the leaves beginning to turn. You know that summer is coming to an end and winter is near. What do you get excited about at this time of the year? Football games and sitting around a campfire sipping hot chocolate? We get excited about something completely different, FIRE PREVENTION MONTH. October is national fire prevention month and although we teach Fire and Life Safety all year long we really push it hard during this month. We are in the schools in our community and the surrounding communities everyday during the month of October and into the first part of November. Camden Fire Department has an award winning public education team that has a program to fit every Fire and Life Safety need. Our characterization program is designed to reach our younger kids from kindergarten to 5th grade. We average doing 25-30 characterization programs a year with more than half of those during fire prevention month reaching 1500 to 2000 students. This is just one of the programs that we have. Here is a list of the other programs that we offer.

  • Portable Fire Extinguisher Training
  • Smoke Alarm Program
  • Child Safety Seat Checks and Education Class
  • Fire and Life Safety Education Lectures
  • Portable Fire and Life Safety Trailer
  • Home Safety Inspections

Camden Fire Department's public education team has been awarded the Richard S Campbell award 6 times, this award is given by the South Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs to the states top public education team. If you would like to schedule any of our programs please call Assistant Chief Eddie Gardner at 803-425-6040. Please remember to be safe by following these safety tips.

  • All heaters need space.  Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment, like the furnace, fireplace, wood stove, or portable space heater.
  • Have a three-foot “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters.
  • Never use your oven to heat your home.
  • Have a qualified professional install stationary space heating equipment, water heaters or central heating equipment according to the local codes and manufacturer’s instructions.
  • Have heating equipment and chimneys cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional.
  • Remember to turn portable heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed.
  • Always use the right kind of fuel, specified by the manufacturer, for fuel-burning space heaters.
  • Make sure the fireplace has a sturdy screen to stop sparks from flying into the room. Ashes should be cool before putting them in a metal container with a lid. Keep the container a safe distance away from your home.
  • Make sure you have working smoke alarms on every level of your home,
  • Develop and practice a home escape plan that includes two ways out of each room and an outside meeting place.