On Monday, October 10th the Oakland Volunteer Fire Department hosted our annual Fire Prevention Open House. Members of our community were invited to attend this special event to learn more about fire prevention with this year’s campaign being - Don’t Wait – Check the Date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 years. The event is organized, managed and coordinated each year by Assistant Chief Vincent Dies.

One of the cornerstones of the event was the announcement of our Fire Prevention poster winners who also received a Plaque honoring their selection. Children from our three Elementary Schools from Kindergarten to 4th Grade submitted posters depicting Fire Prevention ideas. One winner from each school for each grade were selected as the winner on the contest with 15 winners in all being chosen among the over 500 posters received for the contest.

Parents and Children were also able to see demonstrations from the OVFD on how we use certain pieces of equipment, such as the Jaws for Life, kids were able to use fire hoses on our fire prevention house to put out faux fires and parents and children were able to walk through the Smoke House trailer, courtesy of the Skyline Lakes Fire Department, to see firsthand what it is like when a home fills up with smoke and learn the best ways to exit that home safely and quickly.

Fire Prevention night also had members of the Oakland First Aid Squad and Oakland Police Departments in attendance who demonstrated their equipment and gave tours of an ambulance and police car.

New for this year were the door prizes of four combination 10 year smoke/carbon monoxide detectors that were donated by the OVFD and distributed to lucky families.

A big thank you goes out to the members of the Oakland Ladies Auxiliary who provided refreshments, juice, coffee and cookies to all guest as well and Oakland Fireman Dan D’Elia who was serving hot dogs for all to enjoy.