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Fire Safety

Fire Safety is Everyone’s Responsibility! 
Cartoon Dalmatian in firefighter gear giving a thumbs-up inside a red and blue emblem with "NFPA" logo.

Highlands Fire District is committed to providing the community with life safety education.  We believe in the power of prevention and education and offer a wide range of services. Our goal is to reduce life and property loss in our community by educating those who live and work in the Highlands Fire District. Please feel free to explore the articles in this section.

Emergency Preparedness

Make a Plan – Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to plan in advance: how you will contact one another; how you will get back together; and what you will do in different situations.

Family Emergency Plan

  • It may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town, so an out-of-town contact may be in a better position to communicate among separated family members.
  • Be sure every member of your family knows the phone number and has coins or a prepaid phone card to call the emergency contact.
  • You may have trouble getting through, or the telephone system may be down altogether, but be patient.

Emergency Information

Find out what kinds of disasters, both natural and man-made, are most likely to occur in your area and how you will be notified. Methods of getting your attention vary from community to community. One common method is to broadcast via emergency radio and TV broadcasts. You might hear a special siren, or get a telephone call, or emergency workers may go door-to-door.

Emergency Plans

You may also want to inquire about emergency plans at places where your family spends time: work, daycare and school. If no plans exist, consider volunteering to help create one. Talk to your neighbors about how you can work together in the event of an emergency. You will be better prepared to safely reunite your family and loved ones during an emergency if you think ahead and communicate with others in advance.

Be Prepared – Some of the things you can do to prepare for the unexpected,such as making an emergency supply kit and developing a family communications plan, are the same for both a natural or man-made emergency.

However, there are important differences among potential emergencies that will impact the decisions you make and the actions you take. Learn more about the potential emergencies that could happen where you live and the appropriate way to respond to them.

In addition, learn about the emergency plans that have been established in your area by your state and local government.

Emergency preparedness is no longer the sole concern of earthquake prone Californians and those who live in the part of the country known as “Tornado Alley.” For Americans, preparedness must now account for man-made disasters as well as natural ones. Knowing what to do during an emergency is an important part of being prepared and may make all the difference when seconds count.

Fire Safety Tips

Firewise

What is Firewise?

The national Firewise Communities program is a multi-agency effort designed to reach beyond the fire service by involving homeowners, community leaders, planners, developers, and others in the effort to protect people, property, and natural resources from the risk of wildland fire – before a fire starts. The Firewise Communities approach emphasizes community responsibility for planning in the design of a safe community as well as effective emergency response, and individual responsibility for safer home construction and design, landscaping, and maintenance.

The national Firewise Communities program is intended to serve as a resource for fire departments and communities across the U.S. who are working toward a common goal: reduce loss of lives, property, and resources to wildland fire by building and maintaining communities in a way that is compatible with our natural surroundings.

Locally here at Highlands F.D., we want to encourage the public in taking a proactive approach to protecting your property from the threat of wildfire. The best way to do this is to have a Firewise Assessment performed for your property. This assessment would include a representative of HFD coming and surveying your property and making recommendations on what can be done to make the property safer from wildfire.

If you would like to schedule a Firewise Assessment, please call Shelby Erickson at 928-525-9138.

Ready, Set, Go!

The Ready, Set, Go! Program is designed to educate thepublic about the importance of preparing their homes from a wildfire and possible evacuation. This Program originates from Southern California and has shown tobe very valuable, not only to the public, but to Fire Departments as well. Highlands Fire takes the safety of our citizens very seriously, and we want to help you with making your homes and yards as safe as possible. 

Below are the Program Packets for the Ready, Set, Go! Program. Please feel free to download them, and share them with your family. Also please contact Highlands Fire with any questions.

Click below to see full size pdf document.

Additional helpful Web-sties: 

Emergency Evacuation Assistance Registration:
http://www.coconino.az.gov/health.aspx?ekfrm=16942

Ready Coconino: 1-888-697-8393
http://www.readycoconino.az.gov/

Youth Firesetter

Three hundred children each year die in youth related fires. Two of every fire deaths of preschool-aged children in home fires occur between 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Death by fire is the leading cause of accidental death of children in the home. A child can easily start a fire by playing with matches or lighters.

What Can You Do?

The most effective intervention for curious children is proper adult supervision and fire safety education.

  • Keep matches and lighters out of a child’s sight and reach. Even toddlers can use a lighter and kitchen matches to start a fire.
  • Teach preschool children to TELL an adult if they find matches or lighters.
  • Teach school age children to GIVE matches and lighters to an adult. Praise your child whenever he or she does this.
  • Teach your child how to SAY NO when friends suggest playing with fire.
  • Teach children that fire is a tool, not a toy. Talk about ways adults use different tools (cooking tools, repair and building tools, hobby tools).
  • Explain how adults use matches to light candles, start a campfire or light a barbecue.
  • Teach your school age child the safe use of fire. Provide opportunities for your child to light matches under adult supervision, such as lighting the candles on a birthday cake.
What Do You Do If Your Child Sets A Fire? 

Find your child playing with matches or lighter? As a parent or caregiver of young children, take any firesetting seriously.

  • Immediately report all fires by calling 911.
  • If your child set a fire, use an immediate consequence, such as taking away a privilege or using time-out.
  • Depending on your child’s age talk (don’t lecture or scold) about the dangers of fire.

Have you tried everything you know to stop this behavior, but nothing seems to work? Don’t know what to do…afraid of what might happen if this firesetting activity continues? Curiosity about fire can be a natural but dangerous thing. If the firesetting activity seems to be a common occurrence with your child…this is not normal, and help is needed to find out why this is happening. Firesetting activities can be deadly…don’t be afraid to ask for help.

How Do You Get Help? 

Contact your local Fire Department.At Highlands Fire Department, we have specially trained personnel to provide the proper course of action need to help children who are curious about fire. They can help determine whether the child just needs additional fire safety education or if they need professional counseling. 

How Can The Community Help? 
  • Ask retailers to display lighters out of reach of children.
  • Purchase childproof lighters.
  • Support measures that allocate resources to children’s programs that emphasize safety education.