Fireman's Open House and Fire Prevention Week

The second week of October every year marks Fire Prevention Week throughout the country.

Originally the event was created to commemorate the 1871 Great Chicago Fire that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless and destroyed 17,400 structures burning over 2,000 acres in the process according to the National Fire Protection Association website. These days, Fire Prevention Week is used to educate on prevention and promote preparedness in case of wildfire.

Fire Chief, Rick Wynne says that fire prevention week, "is all for the community" although they do focus mainly on the kids. The Kimball Volunteer Fireman take this week seriously, taking time off from their paying jobs to donate their quality time educating elementary children at the schools in prevention and what to do in case of a fire.

This is also the time of year that they hold the Fireman's Open House where they gave out a multitude of door prizes to those in attendance. This year approximately 200 attended the event. In years past, attendance was higher, however there are always other events happening in the area and this year was one of those years.

Fireman and their families joined together to cook up a tasty assortment of homemade appetizers, three types of soup, cornbread muffins and cookies. Although the invitation sent out mentioned a light dinner, the amount of food and drink offered to the community was hardy and abundant.

Many in attendance made donations to the firemen, and even though donations are always appreciated, Chief Wynne said that they don't have the open house for that reason, "the actual reason we do this is because they (the community) are so good to us throughout the year."