LIMA, OH (WLIO) - West Central Ohio Safety Council members learned about fire safety during their monthly meeting.
October is Fire Prevention Month, and Lima Fire Chief Andy Heffner was the keynote speaker sharing his perspective. A major high-rise fire 30 years ago was used as an example of what happens when fire protection systems fail. In this case, the alarm did not notify the fire department. After a fire burned for 19 hours, a matter of 10 sprinkler heads on the 30th floor were able to control a fire that 300 firefighters could not. Heffner wants area businesses to understand just how important these sprinklers are.
"Sprinklers save lives and you have to maintain them. Just like anything else, you have to have maintenance on them. They do something that we can't - they start right when the fire starts. If you have a fire, they are right on the fire scene before a firefighter is even out of bed," explained Chief Andy Heffner, Lima Fire Department.
The safety council also brought back their 50/50 raffle this year and proceeds will go to Frontline Freedom. Council members heard from the co-founder of the organization who says they work with first responders in recovery from depression and PTSD. While normal people see 1 or 2 trauma events, first responders will average 800 in their lifetime.
