Saturday, February 26th was the last day for the Smithfield COVID Testing Site to be open. It is now closed. If you are in need of a COVID test, please go to the RI Department of Health website at health.ri.gov to find an active COVID testing site.

Avoid Alcohol
Drinking too much alcohol is not a good idea in extremely cold temperatures. Alcohol is dehydrating, which is less noticeable during the winter. Alcohol also interferes with the body’s internal thermometer, which can prevent shivering, and result in an accelerated loss of body heat.

Charge Your Cellphone
The importance of a cellphone can’t be overstated. These are the ultimate emergency devices, so make sure yours is charged and ready to go.

Don’t Forget About Your Pets
Blizzards can be especially hazardous for pets. During heavy snowfall, keep your dog on a leash during walks and add some colorful identifying tags to the collar. Also, be wary of melting ice; it can be very painful for dogs to walk over and is potentially toxic if ingested.

Exercise Caution When Shoveling
Shoveling is a necessity, but it’s also an easy way to throw out your back and even induce a heart attack. Remember to take constant breaks and stay hydrated.

Layer Up
Wearing three to four layers of clothing is the most effective way to insulate your body. Packing on some light-weight jackets or vests underneath a winter coat and wind breaker will allow you to tolerate the winter chill. Do not forget hats and earmuffs to keep warm.

Never Use a Generator Indoors
If you have an alternative power source such as a generator, make sure not to use it inside, even if it’s located in a basement, garage, or crawlspace. The fumes it creates contain carbon monoxide, which can be especially dangerous to children, the elderly, and pets.

Stay Inside
Staying off the roads and remaining indoors is the best way to avoid winter hazards, but once the wind and the snow taper off, don’t be afraid to step outside and enjoy the snow.

Watch for Frostbite and Hypothermia
Symptoms for hypothermia include dizziness, exhaustion, and severe shivering. Symptoms for frostbite include numbness; flushed gray, white, blue, or yellow skin discoloration; or waxy-feeling skin. If you think you’re afflicted with either, call 911.

With the pending BLIZZARD, it will be very difficult to find fire hydrants in an emergency. Although we eventually get to hydrants after a storm, the blizzard will create a two-day event for us to get to all of the hydrants.

For safety sake, PLEASE shovel the snow from the hydrants near your house.

Please read this flyer regarding COVID-19 vaccine scams. As vaccine distribution begins, there may be some scammers out there that will take advantage of the unsuspecting public.

It is very important that fire hydrants are clear of snow and ice after a snow storm. The time lost for the fire department to find a fire hydrant could mean the difference between a small fire in a house or a house that is no longer habitable.

Please clear fire hydrants near your house or business of snow and ice. If done properly, the hydrant should look like this.

To all children and adults alike, Santa Claus is coming to town!!

The North Pole contacted the Smithfield Fire Department to ask if Santa Claus could visit the Town of Smithfield. We said YES!

We asked why the North Pole was contacting the fire department. We were told that Santa Claus wants to ride on one of our fire trucks and visit all the citizens of Smithfield. We said OK, we can do that.

We are working with Santa Claus’s Chief Elf to schedule Santa Claus to ride through town on a fire truck. The schedule will be out soon. You will be able to see when Santa Claus will be visiting your neighborhood.

Keep an eye on our Twitter account @SmithfieldFIRE. SANTA’s SCHEDULE TO VISIT YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD WILL BE OUT SOON!!

The top three days of the year for home candle fires are Christmas, New Year’s Day, and New Year’s Eve.

• Only use decorations that are flame-retardant or not flammable.
• Check holiday lights each year for frayed wires or excessive wear.
• Don’t link more than three strands of holiday lights.
• Never leave a burning candle unattended. Consider using battery-operated flameless candles.
• Keep your live Christmas tree away from heat sources and room exits.
• Water your live Christmas tree daily to keep it from becoming dry.

By Chief Robert W. Seltzer

Passage of a $4.5 million bond referendum on November 6^th will enable the Town of Smithfield to build a fire station in the Route 116/Route 7 north end of town. This investment not only provides much needed service to the area, but also offers benefits for the entire town.

For the duration of time that the Greenville and Esmond/Georgiaville fire & rescue apparatus are answering alarms in the north end of town, those areas are being left without fire & rescue service.

If an incident occurs in Greenville or Esmond/Georgiaville while crews are north on Route 116, it takes 12 minutes to get back to the south end of town. The increase in response time issue now flips from the north end of town to the south end of town.

By building a new fire station in the northern part of town, the south end apparatus will not have to cover both the northern and southern ends because apparatus will already be in place to respond.

The new fire station will allow fire & rescue resources to be located throughout the entire town so that all areas of town receive appropriate response times and available resources.

• Response times in areas of Smithfield currently served by a fire station are 4 to 6 minutes. Response times in areas of Smithfield currently NOT served by a fire station are 8 to 14 minutes.
• The new fire station will bring the 8 to 14 minute response times in the north end of town down to 4 to 6 minutes.
• The new fire station will improve our insurance underwriter’s Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating also known as the Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating. This results in savings for homeowners and business insurance rates in every part of the Town of Smithfield.

Everyone in the Town of Smithfield deserves the same level of Emergency Services regardless of where they live or where their business is located!

The Smithfield Fire Department held their first public presentation regarding the new fire station bond on Monday, October 1^st at the Smithfield Senior Center.

A video of the presentation has been posted to the Smithfield Fire Department website.

To view the video you may access it from the internet at www.smithfieldfire.com. Once on the website you will see a picture indicating the dates of the presentations. Scroll down past the picture until you reach the wording “More Information”.

Click on More Information and you will be directed to the New Fire Station Bond page. Scroll down the page until you come to the video.

The Smithfield Fire Department presented their first public presentation for the new fire station bond on Monday, October 1st. at the Smithfield Senior Center. Members of the public were presented with the research that was put together by the Fire department Study Implementation Task Force and their final recommendations concerning the need for a new fire station in the north-end of Smithfield.

Of significant importance, the following facts were emphasized.

• Response times in the north-end of Smithfield for fire & rescue apparatus to respond range from 8 to 14 minutes. With the addition of a new fire station, response times will be reduced to 4 to 6 minutes, similar to response times in the remaining parts of town that have a fire station.

• The Public Protection Classification (PPC) which is issued by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) for Smithfield is currently a PPC = 4. With the construction of a new fire station in the north-end of town, the PPC classification will become PPC=3. What does this mean? It means that homeowners and business across town will see a reduction in their property insurance rates.

• While Greenville and Esmond/Georgiaville apparatus are answering alarms in the north-end of town, those areas are no longer protected. If an incident occurs in Greenville or Esmond while trucks are well north on route 116, then it takes 12 minutes to get back to the south end of town. The response time issue now flips to the south-end of town.

• By adding the new fire station, south-end apparatus will not have to cover the north-end because apparatus will already be in place to respond.

• The new fire station allows fire & rescue resources to be located throughout town in such a way that all parts of town maintain appropriate response times and appropriate available resources.

The new fire station will fill the gap in fire & emergency medical services in the Town of Smithfield.
This investment will provide appropriate public safety infrastructure for years to come.

To see the complete Powerpoint presentation, you may click on the link below.

[CLICK ON LINK BELOW]

FD Study Task Force Public Presentation_Oct 2018

[CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD]

Smithfield Fire Department New Fire Station Bond Costs and Proposed Building

It is fun to decorate for the winter holidays, but holiday decorations can increase your risk of a home fire. As you deck the halls this season, be fire smart.

When you’re decorating with live trees, make sure you keep the tree watered. If a dry tree comes in contact with a flame, it can catch on fire in fewer than 10 seconds and spread quickly throughout your home. Take a minute to watch this video which shows the difference between a dry and watered tree, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZk4vIXCnc8

Here are a few tips to keep your holiday decorations bright and safe:

• Choose the freshest tree you can find. Check to see if the needles stay when you gently pull on a branch.
• After making a fresh cut on the trunk and placing the tree in a stand, fill the stand’s water basin. Make sure you water your tree every day. Keep electrical cords and lights away from the water.
• Choose holiday decorations that are flame resistant or flame retardant.
• Choose holiday lights with a label from an approved testing laboratory, such as UL, and throw away any frayed or damaged light strands.
• Place your tree at least three feet from heat registers, space heaters, and fireplaces.
• If you decorate with candles, make sure they are at least three feet away from anything that can burn.
• Consider using battery-operated flameless candles, which can look, smell and feel like real candles.

Learn more about holiday fire safety on the USFA website. Follow USFA on Twitter at @usfire and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usfire.

For more holiday safety information, visit USFA’s Holiday safety page.

(Content from the United States Fire Administration)

Fireworks are synonymous with our celebration of Independence Day. Yet, the thrill of fireworks can also bring pain. Nationally, 230 people on average go the emergency room every day with fireworks-related injuries in the month around the July 4th holiday.

Remember, fireworks can be dangerous, causing serious burn and eye injuries. You can help us prevent fireworks-related injuries and deaths. How? By promoting fireworks safety in your community.

Follow these safety tips when using fireworks: 

• Never allow young children to play with or ignite fireworks.
• Avoid buying fireworks that are packaged in brown paper because this is often a sign that the fireworks were made for professional displays and that they could pose a danger to consumers.
• Always have an adult supervise fireworks activities. Parents don’t realize that young children suffer injuries from sparklers. Sparklers burn at temperatures of about 2,000 degrees – hot enough to melt some metals.
• Never place any part of your body directly over a fireworks device when lighting the fuse. Back up to a safe distance immediately after lighting fireworks.
• Never try to re-light or pick up fireworks that have not ignited fully.
• Never point or throw fireworks at another person.
• Keep a bucket of water or a garden hose handy in case of fire or other mishap.
• Light fireworks one at a time, then move back quickly.
• Never carry fireworks in a pocket or shoot them off in metal or glass containers.
• After fireworks complete their burning, douse the spent device with plenty of water from a bucket or hose before discarding it to prevent a trash fire.
• In the State of Rhode Island, aerial fireworks of any type are illegal for general public use. Only licensed shooters may use aerial fireworks.

For more information, please visit the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission @ http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Centers/Fireworks/.

You may also visit the United States Fire Administration @ https://www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/outreach/.

On behalf of all the men and women of the Smithfield Fire Department, have a Happy and Safe 4^th of July.