This fall, Cottleville Fire District is going to begin a new program that will take a proactive approach to ensuring the safety of district residents. October is National Fire Prevention Month and the Cottleville Firefighters are going to try to take fire prevention to a new level. Beginning in October, the firefighters will be going house to house and offering to check the operation and location of smoke detectors. Unfortunately, many people neglect to change their smoke detector batteries on a bi-annual basis as recommended. When that little annoying beeping sound that indicates a low battery wakes you up at 3 A.M., most people just remove their smoke detector battery with the intention of replacing it the next day. Sadly, that battery doesn’t always get replaced and that can be a potentially disastrous mistake. By implementing this new smoke detector program, the Cottleville Fire District hopes to curtail the number of residences without properly working smoke detectors.

 A troop of local cub scouts spent the evening at Cottleville Station 4. They toured the station, watched a firefighter put on his bunker gear and learned about fire safety.

 The history of Fire Prevention Week has its roots in the Great Chicago Fire, which occurred on October 9, 1871. This tragic conflagration killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2000 acres in 27 hours. On the 40^th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, the Fire Marshals Association of North America (FMANA); the oldest membership section of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), sponsored the first National Fire Prevention Day, deciding to observe the anniversary as a way to keep the public informed about the importance of fire prevention.

Cottleville's 8712 recently visited an area elementary school to have a fire safety talk with the children and to show them the fire truck.