October 2, 2020 Fire Prevention Week Onboard NAS Sigonella

By MC2 Jacques Jean-Gilles, NAS Sigonella Public Affairs

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which burned from October 8 to October 10, 1871, killed 300 people, left 100,000 homeless, and destroyed thousands of buildings in a three-square-mile area.

Since 1922, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has sponsored Fire Prevention Week in the United States and Canada, not only to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, but also to educate the American public.

“The reason we observe National Fire Prevention every single year is because we need to always reinforce fire prevention knowledge,” said Stephen Rowell, the assistant chief of fire prevention at NAS Sigonella Fire and Emergency Services. “As humans, we’re prone to forget things, and not knowing what to do can be deadly.”

Every year, NAS Sigonella Fire and Emergency Services holds a “Fire Prevention Night Out” at base housing. Due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, NAS Sigonella did not organize a public fire prevention event this year. However, that hasn’t stopped NAS Sigonella Fire and Emergency services from reaching out to the community and amplifying NFPA’s messaging for this year. The command used social media and video releases to reach the 5,000 person community.

The NFPA is also responsible for selecting a new theme each year to focus on. This year’s prevention theme is “Serve Up Fire Safety in the Kitchen.”

“Humans are responsible for nearly 90 percent of all fires, whether it’s a wildfire or a fire in the home,” said Fire Prevention Chief Rowell. “It’s especially important to know about kitchen fire prevention because it’s where we see the most problems.”

According the NFPA, cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home injuries. The leading cause of fires in the kitchen is unattended cooking.

For Chief Rowell and the rest of his team, fire prevention is always at the forefront of their minds. They recently responded to wild brush fires in the surrounding area that were approaching the base confines. This was the first real fire for many of the team and served as a reminder that any day their jobs can turn consequential.

“We have a low-call volume base,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 2nd Class Hannah Overby, a firefighter assigned NAS Sigonella. “Not fighting fires can probably make someone complacent so we do a lot of training to mitigate that. Fighting my first was a kick of adrenaline and somewhat reminded me that these situations are very real.”

If you see a fire, please call emergency dispatch at 911 or off base 095-56-1911.