Holiday Fire Safety

Create a Fire Escape Plan this Holiday Season

The County of Grande Prairie observed Fire Prevention Week on October 9 - 15, but there’s no set time of the year to learn about and practice fire safety. Check out these tips from Regional Fire Service:

• Fire won’t wait. Plan your escape – This year’s Fire Prevention

Week theme encouraged everyone to create a fire escape plan for your home. Find simple but important actions you can take to help stay safe from home fires at www.fpw.org. • You may have as little as two minutes to safely escape from the time the smoke alarm sounds. • Draw a map of your home, marking two ways out of each room, including windows and doors. • Children, older adults, and people with disabilities may need assistance. • Pick a meeting place that is a safe distance from your home.

Practice your fire escape plan at least twice a year. • During the holiday season, be careful with candle and décor placement. Blow out and unplug all lights and decorations before bed or prior to leaving your house. • Check electrical cords for wear damage before plugging them in. • Ensure your live tree is well watered and disposed of right after the holidays.

DID YOU KNOW:

The top three days for candle fires at home are Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

New Assistance Program Helping Businesses Access Human Resources Services

Launched in October to coincide with Small Business Week, the County's Economic Development department is offering an assistance program for small and mediumsized businesses.

The grant program offers three streams and is geared to help County-based businesses work with certified human resources professionals to assist with employee attraction, employee retention, or policy development for working from home. • Employee Attraction: To fill an existing or new position within the company.

• Employee Retention: To retain talent and create a positive workplace culture.

• Work-from-Home Policy Development: To assist in creating flexibility for productive work-from-home situations.

The grants are focused on supporting businesses with fewer than 100 employees, that do not employ human resources staff, have a high turnover rate for specific positions, have had a position posted for greater than three months, or need to create a new full-time position.

Grants will be approved through Council and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis until all funding has been maximized or the one-year grant timeline has expired. Find the application and details about the program at www.countygp.ab.ca/BusinessAssistanceProgram.