Fire Prevention Week

by Angus MacCaull

The AA Munro annual Fire Hall Campaign wraps up soon. All across Nova Scotia, Fire Halls have entered photos of their local communities and volunteers for the chance to win $5,000.

Communities share and “like” the photos on Facebook to gather votes for the win. $1,000 also goes to the second place Fire Hall.

The campaign has taken place every October since 2011, kicking off each year during National Fire Prevention Week. We run the Campaign to support funding and recruiting at local Fire Halls.

“In the insurance business, they’re the unsung heroes,” said Wayne Ezekiel, President of AA Munro. “They’re first responders for emergencies and they protect individual and community assets.”

Our fire halls need support to keep going. This is especially true in smaller communities, where even a single fire truck represents a large community investment.

“They get funding from the province and municipalities,” Ezekiel said, “but it doesn’t cover the cost.”

Since 2012, AA Munro has also run an educational Smoke Detector Program for elementary students in conjunction with the Fire Hall Campaign. In the Smoke Detector Program, Tilda Raney leads a team of volunteers who give out smoke detectors at schools around the province.

To date, several thousand students have received new smoke detectors. And each year the Program continues to expand.