Everything You Need to Know to Protect your Home from Fire

As the 2014 fire season draws near, it is on many of our minds. Besides the threat of wildfire though, we also need to take general fire safety measures in our homes. PEEC is pleased to welcome Dan Ware, Fire Prevention and Outreach Program Manager for the NM State Forestry Division, and Van Leimer of the Los Alamos Fire Department, to discuss what you can do to protect your home from fire. Dan will talk about how New Mexico residents can prepare themselves for the upcoming wildfire season, and Van will discuss general fire safety measures to prevent fire in the home.

When we talk about wildfires in New Mexico these days, it's not "if", but "when". Wildfires have become an eventuality, and there are many programs New Mexico residents can take part in to be as prepared as possible, whether they live in the mountains or the plains. Firewise and Ready, Set, Go! are programs coordinated by New Mexico State Forestry and are easily adapted by residents and communities. Dan will discuss these programs during the presentation, and he will also give a brief look at the upcoming season and the potential for wildfire across New Mexico.

Van will call upon his years of firefighting experience to talk about general fire safety in the home, and what we can do to prevent fires as well as how we can pe prepared in the event of a home fire. Topics will include smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, escape plans, being prepared for fire, and fire statistics.

Dan Ware is the Fire Prevention and Outreach Program Manager for the New Mexico State Forestry Division and serves as Fire Information Officer for the State of New Mexico. He coordinates the Firewise Communities and Ready, Set, Go! Programs for the State, as well as the Forestry Division’s environmental and fire education programs. A resident of New Mexico since 1991, Dan worked in radio and television as well as public and government relations for AAA New Mexico and UNM. He is a graduate of Eastern New Mexico University and lives in Albuquerque.

Van Leimer was raised in the Texas panhandle. In 2003 he wanted to live in a ski resort community, so he applied for a summer job at the Red River Fire Department. After receiving training as a wildland firefighter, the Red River Fire Department developed a Type 2 IA hand crew that responded to fires for the Taos Zone. He worked on the fuel mitigation and continued to work on the wildland fire and EMS crews for Red River until 2008. At that time, Van took a job as an industrial firefighter for a refinery in Bloomfield, NM and then went on to Texas A&M for his industrial fire certification. He went through the LAFD Fire academy in 2009 and since then, Van has been actively participating in EMS and the wildland program for LAFD. He participated in the Los Conchas Fire and has subsequently become more active in the wildland fire mitigation.   

There is no advance registration required for this program.

 
 Dan Ware                       Van Leimer (no photo available)