VIDEO: The Rockford Fire Department opened its doors to the community Saturday October 11, inviting families to learn more about fire safety as part of National Fire Prevention Week.
The open house took place at Fire Station #5 on Trainer Road, where firefighters focused this yearโs campaign on the safe use of lithium-ion batteries which power everything from electric scooters to laptops and e-bikes.
โWe want to make sure that people are being very careful with batteries storing them properly, only using the chargers that come with them, things like that,โ said Michael Schnaper, an Arson Investigator at Rockford Fire Department. โOne of the things thatโs really cool about and event like this is it gives us a chance to interact with the public when things arenโt going haywire.โ
Families toured the station, met firefighters and enjoyed activities like throwing bags, meeting Sparky the Fire Dog and learning basic fire safety skills through hands-on demonstrations.
