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On Thursday, members of the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department gathered to remember and share thoughts of a tragic fire that occurred Thanksgiving Day 1987.
Thanksgiving morning, 1987, a fire consumed a Seat Pleasant home injuring eight adults and taking the lives of six young children. This fire is one that lives on in the memories of public safety officials that were involved in this incident.
Firefighters, paramedics, police officers and dispatchers mark each Thanksgiving morning with a thought about that incident and what role they played. The fire had such an impact on the entire department that a life-saving program was developed and implemented to ensure working smoke alarms.
The Post Incident Neighborhood Intervention Program (PINIP) is still used today after any significant incident. Firefighters, medics and civilian personnel visit communities after a significant incident and talk with homeowners about fire safety and injury prevention tips as well as ensuring a working smoke alarm into heir homes.
A spin-off of the PINIP is currently underway within Prince George's County whereas every home will be visited to offer safety information and alarms. We are currently in the second year of the Proactive Residential Information Distribution Effort (PRIDE) with nearly 11,000 homes visited and 200 alarms distributed.
Several public safety members were invited to the podium to describe their roles and memories from twenty-years ago. Their compassionate description of the events as they remember were clear as to why the Fire/EMS Department felt the need to do more to ensure working smoke alarms in every home.
These life saving smoke alarm programs would not be possible if it were not for the efforts of members of the business community that continue to provide resources to ensure smoke alarms are available to distribute at no cost. Today, PEPCO has donated 800 smoke alarms and 30 smoke alarms for the hearing impaired for distribution to our citizens and residents. Additionally, Battalion Chief Dennis Wood donated back to the Fire/EMS Department an award he received from a leading fire service trade publication. In July 2007, Firehouse Magazine awarded Battalion Chief Wood for his role in coordinating the Department's PRIDE program and presented him with a check for $100. Battalion Chief Wood is donating those funds to the Fire/EMS Department earmarked for the purchase of smoke alarms.
