Franklin only local stop for national whistle-stop tour
By wherald
news@williamsonherald.com
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation is launching a nationwide 19-city Whistle-Stop Tour to promote fire safety and education, highlighting the key message of “Everyone Goes Home.”
On average, 100 firefighters die in the line of duty each year. The goal of this tour is to promote efforts to reduce this alarming number of deaths by 50 percent over a 10-year period.
The tour will make its Middle Tennessee stop on Monday, April 16, at the Lowe’s Parking Lot at 3060 Mallory Lane in Franklin. The event will run from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.
This event is open to the public and will involve a fire safety fair with educational displays and training demonstrations from departments around the area, including Franklin, Brentwood and Metro Nashville. The highlights of this event are the stories of the survivors, those left behind by a fallen firefighter.
The Whistle-Stop tour, made possible by a grant from The Dunkin' Brands Community Foundation, will make 19 official stops across the nation and numerous spontaneous visits to promote firefighter safety and public fire.
Congress created the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to lead a nationwide effort to honor America's fallen firefighters. Since 1992, the non-profit Foundation has developed and expanded programs that fulfill that mandate. Their mission is to honor and remember America's fallen fire heroes and to provide resources to assist their survivors in rebuilding their lives.
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation is also responsible for the Roll of Honor which contains the names of the men and women who have given their lives in service to their communities since 1981. Their names appear on plaques surrounding the official National Fallen Firefighters Monument in Emmitsburg, Md.
Included on the monument in Emmitsburg is the name of Ellis Pratt, a firefighter for the Flat Creek Volunteer Fire Department, who died in 1989 as he returned home from a fire call.
For more information on the National Fallen Firefighter’s Foundation, please visit www.firehero.org and visit www.everyonegoeshome.com for more information about the Everyone Goes Home Program.
For more information on the events in Franklin, please call Joe Polenzani at 550-6155.
Posted on: 4/12/2007
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