Fire Prevention Night a Big Hit

The main reason for hosting Fire Prevention Night is to teach children about fire safety.

There's also some fun to be had, and that surely was the case at the big event hosted by the Erial Fire Department and Lambs Terrace Fire Co. in the township's Sicklerville section on Monday night.

"This is great. I'm here every year. This is his second year here," Stratford resident Charles Ashwell said, pointing to his 3-year-old son, Nicholas, "and he loves it."

A volunteer firefighter himself, Ashwell noted the importance of familiarizing children with firefighters and their equipment at an early age.

By the time Fire Prevention Night officially began at 7 p.m., a large line had formed outside of the Cross Keys Road Lowe's home improvement store. Kids moved throug the south end of the store, grabbing dozens of free giveaways provided by the local fire companies, once they were allowed inside.

Erial Fire Capt. Mike Breeze coordinates the local Fire Prevention Night, which marked its fifth year at Lowe's on Monday night.

National Fire Prevention Week 2011 is Oct. 9-15.

"We try to teach the kids in the schools that the firefighter is their friend: If you need help, go to the firefighter, just like the police officer," Breeze said. "And, yeah, when they come out here, they can see the clothes that we're going to be wearing when we come to them. We're not always wearing the uniform. We're wearing the big heavy suit, which kind of scares children. They can see us out here in them, and then maybe they're not so scared of us."

Local firefighters visited James W. Lilley Elementary School last week, Breeze said, and are always available to spread the fire-prevention message to school children. For more information, call 856-435-0700.

Fire Prevention Night isn't just about learning fire-safety tips or having fun, Breeze will remind you.

"My big thing is the residents own the fire apparatus. They can come out and they can look at it, see what we do with it, ask the firemen how this works, how that works," he said.

Erial Fire Commissioner George Brown noted the strong commitment of two businesses in supporting Fire Prevention Night in recent years.

"I think the Lowe's cooperation could not be better, as well as that of Chick-fil-A," he said.

In addition to Erial and Lambs Terrace, the following fire departments presented fire apparatus at Fire Prevention Night at Lowe's on Monday: Blackwood, Laurel Springs, Lindenwold, Voorhees and Winslow Township.

Also on hand were members of Gloucester Township Police, New Jersey Forest Fire Service, Gloucester Township EMS Alliance and Erial Ambulance.