Fire Prevention Month [PHOTOS]

October is fire prevention month and across the region local fire departments are hosting open house events to educate residents about fire safety and prevention.

Teaching fire safety in the home is the main focus as firefighters remind people to not only be sure to install smoke detectors, but to change the batteries twice each year - usually when they change their clocks for daylight savings time.

Having an escape plan is also emphasized along with teaching youngsters to "stay low and go" if they encounter a fire in the home, how to call 911 in the event of an emergency and how to extinguish small fires such as stove or oven fires before they become large and uncontrollable blazes.