Residents at Hope Senior Apartments were reminded of the importance of stop, drop and roll when the Oxford Fire Department stopped by for the annual fireman’s picnic last month.
Firefighters presented a half-hour video of what to do in case of a fire.
‘Cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home fire injuries,? said Alayne Williams, manager at Hope Senior Apartments. ‘Two-thirds of home cooking fires start with the ignition of food or other cooking materials. Generally if you have a fire, particularly in (a) senior building, it was either because someone was smoking or it was a cooking fire.?
The residents were told a fire drill would be coming sometime in the near future, and they needed to be prepared with flashlights because the lights would be off.
Following the movie, the seniors ate lunch with the firemen and watched while their grandkids played fun-filled games and had a water fight with the firemen and women.
‘We are trying to really minimize the fear. You know if you are in a medical emergency, you don’t know if you are supposed to go to the hospital, you don’t know if you are injured beyond help, so what we are trying to do is be on a first name basis,? Williams said.
‘When the firefighters come over, they see the same guys and we are just trying to minimize that (fear) in a crisis, that they are there to help them, not harm them,? she added.