BURRILLVILLE – Burrillville-based artist and public safety advocate Jim Weicherding’s latest series of coloring cartoons will address a topic that inevitably affects families and the community every winter in New England.
“It seems that every time you turn on the television news, day or night, you see the same news stories practically every day during the winter months: house fires,” Weicherding said. “In the past couple of weeks every news cast talks about a house fire somewhere in our state and nearby Massachusetts.”
Weicherding pointed out the in recent weeks alone, two young children died in a house fire in Providence, and several families were displaced by another fire in Burrillville.
“Home fire safety and burn prevention should be on the minds of everyone this time of year, because most house and apartment fires happen during the winter months here and nationwide every year,” he said. “There are many reasons that this happens and most of those reasons are preventable.”
Over the next few months, a series of Home Fire Safety and Burn Prevention Safety Coloring Cartoons will be featured on NRI NOW for kids and families.
Parents are encouraged to engage with their children, print the images out, and discuss the fire safety tips. The kids can display the finished coloring cartoons on the refrigerator, so the entire family can be reminded every day about preventing house and apartment fires, and avoid burns.
Some of the coloring fire safety tips will feature escape routes in the home and topics such as space heaters, as well as how to avoid burns caused by stoves and hot water.
“It’s a brand New Year and these ‘Seasons Of Safety’ coloring cartoons for kids are created to help prevent unintentional injuries, and possibly save lives all year long,” Weicherding said. “Have a Healthy, Safe and Happy New Year.”