Great strides in fire prevention in Burnsville

If the key to fire prevention is education, the city of Burnsville has done a darn good job.

In 2009, losses from apartment-complex fires in Burnsville totaled $5.33 million. In 2010, it was $4.6 million.

Since then, that number dropped dramatically, from $600,000 in 2012 to $80,000 in 2013 and just $61,000 so far this year.

Douglas Nelson, the city's assistant fire chief and fire marshal, gives much of the credit to an education campaign boosted by a federal grant and money from the city.

With a total of about $58,000, the department bought and distributed almost 8,000 DVDs on fire prevention.

They came in four languages — English, Spanish, Somali and Russian — and were given to apartment-building managers to hand out to tenants.

There were also 5,400 "butt buckets," a safe place to discard cigarette butts. And almost 1,000 StoveTop FireStops, a passive fire extinguisher that fastens with a magnet to a range hood and is activated by flames.

"If you talk to people in the business a long time, they'll say the No. 1 cause of fire is people," Nelson said. "You can't influence nature, but you can educate people."

Burnsville averaged 27 fires in its multifamily housing from 2006 to 2012.

A January 2007 fire at Woods of Burnsville apartments left about 200 residents temporarily homeless.

Raven Hills Apartments on Harriet Avenue S. had four major fires from 2007 to 2011, including one in 2007 that displaced about 200 people.

On Dec. 22, 2008, fire destroyed the 64-unit Burncliff Apartments on Parkwood Drive and left about 100 residents without a place to live.

The losses in 2010 included $2 million at the Observatory Apartments on Greenhaven Drive. That fire was caused by a carelessly discarded cigarette on a deck.

By 2013, the average number of fires had dropped to 15. There also have been 15 so far in 2014, with losses in both years just a fraction of what they had been.

It was in the latter part of 2011, and 2012, that the department began distributing the DVDs, the FireStops and the cigarette buckets.

The "single biggest reason" for the significant drop in losses and fires was the DVDs, Nelson said.

"If you really want to be successful in this, you have to be proactive in your prevention," he said. "Throwing resources at it after the fact doesn't do a lot of good. Preventing a fire is the way to go."

The Fire Department also offers fire prevention training at its annual open house. Nelson said a woman talked to him recently and said she had put out a fire on her stove by using the things she'd learned about at an open house.

The department hopes to distribute more DVDs at its open house this year, taking place on Oct. 9. The event will be from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Fire Station 1911, 140th St. W.

Visitors can explore fire engines, ambulances and police cars; try on helmets, boots and other gear; tour the station; watch interactive demonstrations, and meet firefighters and other public safety personnel.

The open house also will feature a new kitchen-fire prevention trailer. Visitors will learn how dangerous kitchen fires can be, and how a cup of water poured on a small grease fire can cause a major fire. A second trailer will let children experience what it's like to navigate through a smoke-filled room.

National Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 5 to 12.