Rankin Inlet (Oct 29/03) - Rankin Inlet volunteer firefighters delivered a message of awareness to their community during Fire Prevention Week activities earlier this month.

Young Sidney Nichol was a volunteer firefighter in training under the tutelage of Ambrose Karlik during Fire Prevention Week in Rankin Inlet. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

Sirens blared and lights flashed as the firefighters toured the hamlet with a pair of 10-foot fire-prevention banners mounted upon Engine No. 1.

Following the tour of the community, the fire truck and the department's ambulance were out on display at the Royal Bank parking lot in the downtown core of the hamlet.

Fire Chief Rick Penner and a group of firefighters spent the rest of the afternoon interacting with people in the community to raise the level of awareness for fire prevention.

"We handed out stickers to the kids and information pamphlets on fire prevention to the adults," says Penner.

"We had kids in and out of our vehicles for a couple of hours and a lot of parents asking questions."

Penner says Fire Prevention Week provides local firefighters with a special opportunity to get information out to the public.

He says the information contained in the pamphlets they hand out can help people prevent accidental fires, if they read the material and implement the advice into their daily routines.

"Make no mistake about it, the key to fire prevention is education.

"Our pamphlets are designed to give people safety tips on fire extinguishers, fire drills, smoke detectors -- basic information that can help save lives."

Penner says the volunteer firefighters also took the time to provide information on fire prevention to the new pre-school program at Maani Ulujuk middle school.

He says it's important to get fire safety and prevention tips out to children at a young age.

"Hopefully, we'll see some of that information implemented into the preschool program.

"It can really be quite unbelievable what three- and four-year-olds know how to do.

"When it comes to fire prevention, that's the best time to start educating them.

"The younger you can make them aware of fire safety, the better."