On Saturday, December 7, 2013, the store management at the Home Depot in north Fontana presented a donation of 100 smoke alarms to the San Bernardino County Fire Department and the City of Fontana. Battalion Chief John Chamberlin was present to accept the donation on behalf of the Fire Department. The many children present at the event enjoyed seeing a display of fire engines, including Rescue Unit 73, as well as Sparky the Fire dog.
The donation was generously given in an effort to support a new public education program, “Preparedness in Action through Learning about Safety (P.A.L.S.)”, that is being developed for the Fontana area elementary schools. This enhanced program, scheduled to be launched in 2014, will teach school-age children such safety themes as Exit Drills in the Home (E.D.I.T.H.), smoke alarm awareness, kitchen fire safety, and others.
Adam Panos, Fire Prevention Supervisor and Fire Marshal for Fontana, is coordinating the development of the new educational program. “We are very appreciative of our community partners like the Home Depot, helping us to achieve our goal of educating our kids about fire safety,” said Panos. “The new public education program will help us get these donated smoke alarms into the hands of people that need them.”
The San Bernardino County Fire Department provides fire protection, emergency medical services and fire safety education services to the City of Fontana as well as many other cities and districts throughout the County. To learn more about fire safety, visit our website at www.sbcfire.org.