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Rolling campaign
Fire officials use buses to teach safety
Exterior decorations aimed to educate residents about dangers of
cooking
BY PAT KIMBROUGH
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – It may not be the typical image for the side of a
city bus, but it does grab the attention.
Against the backdrop of firefighters on the scene of a house
engulfed in flames, the warning reads “Candle With Care!” High Point Fire
Department officials hope the image will help spread the message of fire
prevention to the public.
The exteriors of two city buses have been outfitted with images,
slogans and phone numbers with the goal of providing information on
cooking and candle safety, smoke detector maintenance and other aspects of
fire prevention.
The designs were installed on Hi tran
buses this week and will remain on them for one year. Fire officials also
plan to have pamphlets about fire safety on the buses available for riders.
“The No. 1 cause of fires in High
Point is cooking accidents, and we have had some
candle-related fires too,” said Capt. Denita
Lynch of the fire department. “(The buses) will be going all over the city.
It’s almost like a rolling billboard.” The department is using a federal fireprevention grant to pay for the designs.
The two buses are part of the city’s fleet of about 15 buses that
are routinely on the roads and frequently change routes, said Wayne Norris,
maintenance supervisor for Hi tran.
One focus of the bus campaign is cooking safety, which is also the
theme of National Fire Prevention Week next month.
Cooking is the leading cause of house fires and fire injuries in the
nation, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.
Locally, fire officials say many such blazes occur when people leave
cooking food unattended or mishandle grease.
“It seems like it’s becoming a trend nationally,” Lynch said
pkimbrough@hpe.com |888-3531
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