One local family knows the importance of Fire Prevention Week

The Decorah Fire Department has been busy emphasizing the importance of fire safety during National Fire Prevention Week. Volunteers from the department visited students at Decorah schools to share the importance of developing a home escape plan and practicing it.

"Developing and practicing a home escape plan is like building muscle memory," says Decorah Fire Chief Mike Ashbacher. "That pre-planning is what everyone will draw upon to snap into action and escape quickly in the event of a fire."

Decorah residents John and Tracy Hjelle know all too well the importance of quick action in the event of a fire. Last April their home sustained major damage when an electrical malfunction of their dishwasher started a fire. No one was home to notice the fire initially, but Tracy says she is thankful for neighbors and others who came to the house to check on them when they noticed smoke coming from the house. "The Decorah Fire Department was really quick to respond and about 15 volunteers worked for two hours to put out the fire. It could've been so much worse," says Hjelle.

In addition to the Hjelle house fire in April, the Decorah Fire Department responded to 115 other service calls over the past year. Decorah Fire Department Public Information Officer Steve Vanden Brink says, "Our average response time over the past 12 months was 9 minutes. We most frequently responded to public assistance calls including Upper Iowa Speedway race standby and smoke or odor problems. We responded to 12 rescue calls that required some sort of extrication, 5 vehicle fires, 6 vegetation (grass) fires, 9 searches for lost people, 7 structure fires, and 7 smoke/fire alarms."

The Hjelles are still recovering from their devastating house fire 6 months later. They are appreciative of the work of local contractors who had to completely gut their home. They are hoping to be able to move back in by Thanksgiving. After their fire, they learned their 14-year-old dishwasher had been recalled, but they had not received any notification about it. After losing two pets, countless precious possessions, and so much more in the fire, Tracy Hjelle shares, "If you receive a notice about something being recalled, get it taken care of right away. Whether it's a recall on a car, an appliance, or whatever, recalls are important."

Decorah firefighters talking with students during FIre Prevention Week (photo courtesy of the Decorah Fire Department Facebook page)