Hundreds visited Syracuse Station 17 to learn safe charging and storage tips, meet firefighters and try hands-on demos amid rising battery fire risks

By Vince Gasparini
syracuse.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse Fire Department hosted its annual Fire Prevention Open House on Saturday afternoon, capping off the department’s Fire Prevention Week.

The event’s theme this year was “Charge into Fire Safety: Lithium-Ion Batteries in Your Home.”

| MORE: How to make your fire department open house successful

“A lot of people are uneducated, even though these batteries are in everything you do every day,” Fire Chief Michael Monds said. “The fires they incur are hot, smoky and hard to put out with regular water.”

Lithium-ion batteries can be found in cell phones, laptops, electric scooters and some toys. Monds encourages people who are buying products that use them to make sure they are from a certified manufacturer.

“The chargers you use to charge them up, make sure they’re from a manufacturer that’s legitimate,” he said. “Make sure people aren’t charging their phones on beds and soft surfaces.”

Hundreds of kids and parents attended the event at Fire Station 17 on Burnet Avenue, along with city and county officials. They enjoyed a free barbecue and several educational and interactive activities, along with vendors from city, county and state offices.

Many kids waited in line to spray a firehose on a pretend fire while others practiced their stop, drop and roll techniques, played in a bouncy house and toured fire trucks.

Mascots including Otto the Orange and the Syracuse Mets’ Scooch, handed out fist-bumps and high fives alongside a smoke detector mascot and a Dalmatian mascot dressed in a firefighter uniform.

Cherisse Pittman, a social worker for Syracuse City School District, thinks the event is a great way to be present in the community. She was joined by her elementary-age son.

“We ride past this fire station all the time, and he loves fire trucks,” she said. “And I want to know the people in our community; we all need to be more connected.”

Monds said the event is a great way for the department to connect with and educate city residents.

“Making sure people are able to reduce injuries and deaths from fires, that’s my overall job as Fire Chief,” he said. “To do it effectively, you need other people helping, partnering and championing those causes.”

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