Putting the heat on kitchen fires

How many times have you started dinner and ran upstairs to do a load of laundry or darted out of the kitchen to take a phone call —  all while leaving your pots and pans to cook on a hot stove unattended?
Klaus Kueppers, fire protection inspector and acting assistant chief for the garrison’s Fire Prevention program, said these simple scenarios are all too common in many kitchens.

That’s why he and other military and civilian fire officials are working to put the heat on kitchen fires during this year’s National Fire Prevention Week Sunday to Oct. 12.

Kueppers said it is important to reach as many people as possible to make them aware of certain risks.
“Kitchen fires are still the No. 1 cause of fires across the U.S. Army. We want to get the attention of everyone so that we can reduce those numbers,” Kueppers said. “Fortunately, we don’t have a high number of fires here, and we would like to keep it that way. Most of the calls we handle here are medical emergencies.”

Kueppers and members of the Directorate of Emergency Services plan to host a series of Fire Prevention Week activities on Army installations across the KMC. Community members can learn more about different types of fires, how to prevent them and ways to keep their quarters and workspaces safe.

• Monday: Flyer handout at Landstuhl main gate and Landstuhl Child Development Center.

• Tuesday: Open house at Sembach Fire Station at 11:45 a.m., and flyer handout at Pirmasens main gate.

• Wednesday: Open house at Miesau Fire Station at 2 p.m., and flyer handout at Rhine Ordnance  Barracks and Pulaski Barracks gates.

• Thursday: Kleber CDC Sembach Schools visit.

• Oct. 11: Flyer handout at Kaiserslautern-East installations.

The annual event was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 that killed more than 250 people and left another 100,000 homeless.

For more information about the National Fire Prevention Week, visit www.nfpa.org. KMC members can  also call 493-4500 or 0631-3406-4500, or visit Bldg. 164, Room 129 on Rhein Ordnance Barracks.