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The Euclid Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Bureau recently held fire extinguisher training for the senior citizens at Euclid Senior Center to educate area residents on proper safety techniques.

The event was held last week on the center grounds with the goal of preparing senior citizens in the event of a life-threatening fire.

The event was sponsored by the Ronnie Thames Foundation from Peachtree City, Georgia, a nonprofit organization committed to assisting families whose lives have been dramatically changed by a fire.

“The Ronnie Thames Foundation was very kind to help us out,” Senior Center Manager Bob Payne said. “They usually help with children but when they heard about what we wanted to do they jumped on the idea and helped us out.”

Controlled fires where lit under the Fire Prevention Bureau supervision, with over 60 seniors being instructed on how to put them out using extinguishers the bureau provided.

After the exercise, each senior received a free home fire extinguisher courtesy of the foundation so that they could be better protected in the event of a fire.

The exercises were performed once before in 2019 but due to the pandemic the center hasn’t been able to conduct them again until this year. Now that they are back, Payne said that they hope to be able to make this a yearly occurrence.

“Knowing how to protect yourself from a fire is something that is important in all walks of life no matter how old you are, it can save your property and your life,” Payne said. “We love this event. It is important, it is fun for our seniors and best of all it makes our community a little safer.”

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