CHARLESTON, W.Va. — October is Fire Prevention Month across the country and first responders that deal with fire in Kanawha County were celebrated on Thursday.
The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department hosted representatives from the Charleston Fire Department, Pinch Volunteer Fire Department, Metro 911, Kanawha County Emergency Management, Red Cross, and others to speak on fire prevention and share stories.
“Firefighters, EMS, our first responders, 911 operators they do not have an easy job,” Kanawha-Charleston Health Department Executive Director, Dr. Sherri Young said.
“They are called in the middle of the night, they come out in the worst of worst conditions to see people in the worst situations. They are literally the heroes running towards the fire.”
It’s personal for Young as she and her family survived a house explosion in January 2018 in the Pinch area. With tears in her eyes, she shared her story of a propane tank rolling down a hill into their home on Rosewood Way in Coppers Creek.
She said if it wasn’t for the 911 dispatchers telling her and two others to leave the home the way they did, they wouldn’t be alive. “Not All Heroes Wear Capes” is the theme of Fire Prevention Month in West Virginia and Young said that’s approriate.
“The heroes started from the first phone call,” Young said. “The heroes arrived on scene and helped take care of this. The heroes arrived with the American Red Cross by coming and bringing us supplies. We had nothing but the clothes on our back.”
Young said she is just beginning to open up about her story with the position she is in as a health officer. She also said the best ways for fire prevention are using fire detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and has detectors.
“I feel like now that I am in the position of helping protect the public, I feel like it was my duty to come out and say I went through this, I knew what this was like and I want you to protect yourselves,” Young said.