Fire Prevention/Public Education Community Relations

Mrs OLearys cow


Everyone may be familiar with the Ol' wives tale of Mrs. O'Leary's Cow kicking over the lantern causing the 1871 Chicago fiasco which burned the entire city to the ground within two days.  Well......  It can't be confirmed that the cow actually did it but the experts who have studied the fire and the reports can confirm it came from the barn.....  for what ever it is worth.  

This all happened on October 8th and 9th where over two hundred fifty lives were lost, over one hundred thousand people were homeless, and over seventeen thousand four hundred structures within a two thousand acre area were burned and/or destroyed.  This wasn't even the worst fire!  

That fateful day on October 08, 1871 in Wisconsin a Forest fire, which was started by land clearing brush fires consumed sixteen towns, killed over one thousand one hundred fifty-two people, and burned up over one million two hundred thousand acres of land before it was controlled.  

In the early 1920's, spearheaded by the Late President Woodrow Wilson and the Fire Marshal's Association, Fire Prevention Week was placed into existence to commemorate the horrific Chicago Fire of 1871.  The committee didn't just want this to be a celebration but used this time to teach the average public citizen ways to remember fire prevention and fire safety starting within their own homes and in the work places.  During the week of October 9th, from Sunday to Saturday every year. 
Fire Safety Week
Fire Extinguisher Education
image
Sparky Robot
Stay Low and Go Prop
Puppet Show
Getting to Spray the Fire Hose

Services Offered to the Public

Other than top-notch service of Firefighting, Rescue, and all around Public Safety with preservation of Life, Safety, and Property Conservation being the utmost of importance, the Kinston Department of Fire & Rescue offers the following to Our Community:

Kinston Department of Fire & Rescue goes above and beyond the minimal Fire Prevention Week and we host the Entire Month of October as Fire Prevention Month. Fire Safety is our Key Element which we want to stress to our citizens. This helps make sure they are safe. We Kick-Off the Fire Prevention Month with the Fire Prevention Week being the focal point. The Fire Prevention Week is the same week that October 9th falls in. This is to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire. We host our Annual Open House at Headquarters, where we invite Pre-Kindergartners, Kindergartners, and First Graders of Lenoir County to come and participate in learning Fire Safety through ten various learning stations setup with fun-learning themes of Fire Prevention. We let them see tools, and equipment which give the youngsters a look into what we do at work, where we live, and learn during an average day as a Firefighter.

In the year 2020, The Fire Service had to realize a new way to relay our message of Fire Safety due to COVID-19.  We followed suit with the Public School System and created our virtual learning which coincides with the, In-House interactions.  We are proud to introduce to you, our new Virtual Interaction Section called........

The Captain's Corner

Where Kids of ALL AGES can learn a lil something about Fire Safety through our Virtual Interaction material.

Fire Protection and Education for the Kids

This section is a fun place to find various Free Fire Prevention Education Activities that you and your family can do together.  All the activities are in PDF form and can be printed for fun times of learning and entertainment for the Kids.  

These Activities were created and published by the National Fire Protection Agency.  The Activities and More can be found at their website by clicking on the National Fire Protection Agency Link provided below.  This website has apps, games and more videos to enjoy and learn from.

NFPA Kids - Sparky's Link

(The name and image of Sparky the Fire Pup are trademarks of the NFPA)

National Fire Protection Agency Activities

  1. Activity Pages
  2. Seasonal Pages
  3. Coloring Pages
  4. Craft Pages
  5. Cool School
  6. Story Time
  7. Information Station
Just click on the picture
activity-placemat Opens in new windowActivity Placemat

Here is a fun little thing you can print and complete when you're at the breakfast, lunch, or dinner table.
hidden-smoke-alarm-pix Opens in new windowHidden Pix at the Sleep Over

Can you find all of the hidden items?
hidden-firestation-pix Opens in new windowHidden Pix at the Fire Station

Find the items and have fun coloring everything in.
smoke-alarm-hidden-pix Opens in new windowHidden Pix at the Museum

It's always fun finding things at the Museum....  
BEEP!  BEEP!  BEEP!
hidden-zoo-pix Opens in new windowHidden Pix at the Zoo

Silly happenings are going on at this zoo.  Can you find them?
kitchen-safety Opens in new windowHidden Pix in the Kitchen

Bring the kitchen to life by coloring it in while you find interesting things hidden in the nooks and crannies.
Nozzle Man Opens in new window5 Page Activity Booklet

Interactive activities to promote Fire Safety Messages.

Kids Fire Safety Video Selection

Adults and Senior Section

Fire Protection and Education for the Adults

This section is a great place to find various Free Fire Prevention Education information for your enlightenment, safety and wellbeing.  

This information was created and published by the National Fire Protection Agency.  More fire safety information can be found at their website by clicking on the National Fire Protection Agency Link provided below.  This website has apps and more videos to enjoy and learn from.

NFPA.ORG - Public Education

National Fire Protection Agency Information

  1. Common Fire Causes within the Home
  2. Fire and Safety Equipment in the Home
  3. Tips for Common Items Found in the Home
  4. Fire Safety for different types of Living Spaces
Just click on the picture
Cooking Related Fires
Heating Related Fires
Electrical Related Fires
2020CookingINfographic150 Opens in new windowcookingtips Opens in new windowheatingtips Opens in new windowelectricalsafetytips(1) Opens in new windowElectricalChecklist Opens in new window
Candle Related Fires
Smoking Related Fires
AFCIInfographic1 Opens in new windowAFCIInfographic2 Opens in new window
Religious Candle Fire Safety Tips Opens in new windowreligiouscandlessafetytipssmokingtipsheet
candletips(1)ESFIInfographicReceptacles Opens in new window
TamperInfographic Opens in new window
  1. Animal Safety Tips
  2. Seasonal Safety Tips
  3. Safety Tips for Activities Outdoors
  4. Safety Tips for Population Activities
Just click on the picture
Pet Fire Safety
Barn Fire Safety
Chicken Coop Safety
Pet Fire Safety Opens in new windowBarn Fire Safety Opens in new windowChicken Coop Safety Opens in new window
  1. Transportation/Recriational Safety Tips
  2. Unintentional Injury Prevention
  3. Remembering When Program for Older Adults
  4. Fire Drill and Escape Planning
Just click on the picture
Car Fire Safety
RV/Camper Safety
Hoverboard Safety
Car Fire Safety Opens in new windowRV Safety Opens in new windowHoverboard Safety Opens in new window

Adult Fire Protection and Public Education Video Section

Community Interaction/Relations  

Physically meeting with the general public on a personable one on one level and exchanging ideas, information, and being totally accessible to one another.  By being involved at this personable level of one on one brings trust, loyalty, and integrity to all involved creating a tight-knit, understandable bond throughout the community.  We also offer the services of our Honor Guard out to the public.

Public Education


Giving the general public the most up-to-date and accurate information of a certain selected category, in this case Fire Prevention, through assistance of training props, such as puppets, characters, memorization models, pamphlets/books/information, tools, equipment, seminars, meetings, classroom-style interactions, and hands-on experiences, to proficiently bring the category information to a higher understandable level for memory retention and application to situational life occurrences.

Fire Prevention


The act of showing the general public, through training, the way to properly control situations that could be hazardous and causing fires from happening before a potentially bad situation occurs, causing loss of life, loss of property, and potential harming effects to others within the community by the way of FIRE.  This includes the service to perform Smoke Detector Installation/Battery Replacement/Maintenance for our citizens.  The Smoke Detector Program is funded and sponsored through Various Fire Grants.  Also providing Private Residence Fire Safety Checks and Business Inspections to the local businesses.

Interest in the Program


If you are interested in the Kinston Fire & Rescue Fire Prevention/Fire Public Education/Community Interaction/Community Relations Program, or if you know of a business, organization, educational group, or Community program that would like to participate within the program, click on the Interested box/tab below and fill out the On-Line Fill-able Form and the Department Representative will get into contact with you to assist in scheduling the Firefighters to either come to you or you come to the Fire Station.

Or if you are requesting a specific Service you wish to have provided to you and/or your business also click on the interested box/tab below and fill out the On-Line Fill-able Form. 
  1. Public Interaction
  2. Smoke Detector Service
  3. Private Residence Safety Check
  4. Business Inspection/Re-Inspect
  5. Fire Incident Report Request
Fire Prevention/Fire Public Education/Community Interaction/Community Relations Request Form

Kinston Fire & Rescue Honor Guard Request Form