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If you go:

What: Fort Dodge Fire Department Open House

When: 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday

Where: Fire station, 1515 Central Ave.

Cost: Free

Schedule

of events:

Friends and family CPR class: 1:15, 2:15 and 3:15 p.m.

Fire extinguisher class/demonstration: 2 and 3 p.m.

Smoke trailer and fire safety talk: Every half hour

Extrication demonstration: 4 p.m.

Displays and tours of the station throughout the day

Imagine your desk is on fire. Without looking, locate the nearest fire extinguisher. While your computer goes up in flames, figure out how to work the fire extinguisher.

A common staple in offices, public places and homes, that people pass by thousands of times a day is not one people should be unprepared to use. But realistically, it's not a hard thing to ignore.

The Fort Dodge Fire Department wants to make sure people know to prevent and worst-case scenario, react to a potentially situation.

From 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the fire station, 1515 Central Ave., the department will hold an open house. The station will be open for tours, demonstrations, education and a hands-on glimpse at the life of a firefighter.

"We want to not only show people what their tax dollars provide for them, but we want them to become a part of their own safety and have some input on the service that we provide," said Fort Dodge Fire Lt. Steve Teske. "From the Envision 2030 plan, the focus became public safety ... we want to emphasize that public safety encompasses a lot more than drugs and crime. For our contribution to the public safety aspect of the 2030 plan, we want to make people safer in their own home by covering fire safety and CPR through education. We intend to do this by providing demonstrations, written information and giveaways. We also want to showcase different aspects of what we do that contributes to the safety of our community."

With increased demands through the years - such as first-responders to accidents or cleaning up hazardous materials after a spill - the No. 1 job of a firefighter is still fire prevention and educating the public, said Iowa Central Community College Fire Science Coordinator Scott Kuester.

"The safest way to deal with fire is to prevent it from occurring in the first place," Kuester said. But realistically he said he knows that's impossible, so as firefighters, they need to teach people how to properly respond in a situation before it turns into something bigger.

"We want to educate citizens of all ages to recognize potential hazards and take appropriate corrective actions," he said. "We want them to be aware of certain hazards they may not think about."

Some of the additions to this year's open house will include teaching people the proper way to use a fire extinguisher, taking kids through a smoke-filled, two-story trailer, and offer a basic CPR class that exposes them to and teaches how to effectively administer CPR.

The fire extinguisher simulator that will be used for demonstrations is roughly a $10,000 piece of equipment from Iowa Central that was funded as a result U.S. Rep. Tom Latham's efforts. It simulates a dry chemical extinguisher to show people the proper technique for extinguishing a fire, Kuester said. There will also be information on what types of fires to use extinguishers on.

The smoke trailer is equipped with heated doors, smoke and an alarm to teach the kids the importance of checking a door, react to fire alarms and staying low to the ground in a fire.

There will be a drawing held giving away smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers.

And for five school-aged kids, if their name is drawn, they can choose a day to be picked up from home in a fire truck and given a ride to school.

There is no charge for any of the activities - it's just one way to show the community what the fire department does.

"It's about community outreach," Teske said. "We're not just putting out fires, but trying to prevent fires and educate the public on fire safety. We want people to see all the different things that we do."

Contact Angela Burch at (515) 573-2141 or aburch@messengernews.net