Fire prevention

Bureau of Fire Prevention

The Fire Prevention Bureau’s mission is to improve personal safety and reduce property loss through aggressive fire inspections and quality public fire education. Programs are provided in our nursing homes, medical facilities, businesses, and schools. Shift personnel present fire prevention education to all preschools and kindergarten classes the week before fire prevention week. First graders get a visit by the trucks and are given a fire message. The benefit of fire prevention inspections has been well documented. To increase the quantity and quality of fire inspections performed by all three shift inspectors, who have increased demands for time from Lieutenant responsibilities, three additional firefighters accepted additional inspection duties. These inspectors had junk automobiles either repaired/licensed or removed.

The Albert Lea Fire Department holds an annual Fire Prevention Poster Contest for area students in fifth grade. If the individual classes have 100 percent participation, they receive a pizza party from the firefighters. Numerous prizes are given to the winners and the first place winning poster is entered in the state competition.

Albert Lea Firefighters Union Local 1041 provides a Spring visit to first grade classes – that’s about 250 students a year. Each child is rewarded a custom printed T-shirt for learning fire prevention techniques. City businesses, school PTO’s, & local community organizations provide all the funds, and union firefighters provide all the manpower for this program.