I wonder who set the date for national Fire Prevention Week. It arrives on the heels of Thanksgiving, which may or may not be a coincidence.
Although we can be thankful for being alive and well and living in not only one of the nicest, but absolutely one of the best places on this planet, a house fire is something that if we took the time to think about it, would bring fear to our hearts.
Our house can be the heart of our existence - home where we feel safe, where our children are - our castle. To see it engulfed in fire must be unimaginable.
I have witnessed house fires over the years, but always in abandoned houses. What a horrible feeling it must be to watch your own home burn.
For those of us who have a house or a place to call “home”, it gives us just one more thing to be thankful for.
And we can take steps to protect it from fire as best we can. Don’t wait until it’s too late to put those smoke detectors up or replace those old batteries. Keep a fire extinguisher handy. And plan ahead of time for how you’re going to get out of your home in case a fire ever breaks out because sometimes things happen that can’t be planned for.
We have a couple of grab and go kits in our house in case we have to get out fast. Actually, one is in the car and the other is next to the front door. They contain flashlights, extra clothing, a telephone book, etc.
We can also be thankful that each of our communities have a dedicated group of volunteer firefighters who are trained to not only fight fires, but to help us prevent them as well.
Being thankful focusses our awareness on specific things. Being thankful for our health, for instance, can lead to taking a quick inventory of those aches and pains, weight, etc., and then to a plan for how to improve them. Being thankful that we live in a friendly, non-stressful town may lead us to decide that we need to be more involved in making our village a better, more beautiful and a safer place for everyone to live.
What are you thankful for?
Wendy Coomber is editor of the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal