BVFD serves up pizza with side of safety
Bay Village firefighters Lt. Corey Gregg and Steve Kaye delivered the first Pizza by Robert order of the day to a family on Knickerbocker Road – in uniform and aboard a BVFD fire truck – as part of National Fire Prevention Week. Photo by Christopher Lyons
Bay Village firefighters visited five Bay Village homes during the week of Oct. 4-10 to deliver pizzas and promote fire safety. The Bay Village Fire Department partnered with Westlake restaurant, Pizza By Robert, which provided the pizza orders for free to the first Bay Village customer each day.
Owner Rob Kess was delighted to be part of the effort. “We love our customers, and we love our firefighters,” said Kess, “and I am very proud to be a part of making our community a safer place to live.”
As part of National Fire Prevention Week, the program raises awareness about the need for smoke detectors, emergency exit plans for homes, and fire safety in general.
“Our primary goal is to make sure families have working smoke detectors, and that they are installed in the right locations,” said firefighter Brandon Dimacchia. “The theme for Fire Prevention Week this year was ‘Hear the beep where you sleep,’ and we are trying to make sure that Bay Village homes have a working smoke detector on every level, and inside of each bedroom.”
After delivering the pizza, firefighters also offered to lead the family in conducting an emergency exit drill from the house, and conduct a Residential Hazards Assessment.
“We showed them the easiest way to get out and how to crawl out of the house,” said Bay Village Lieutenant Kevin Somerville. "We also inspected the home for obvious fire and utility hazards, and offered suggestions about fire extinguishers.”
Since the firefighters arrived on their fire engine with lights flashing, any children who were home were also given the opportunity to look inside the fire truck.
“We had no shortage of firefighters volunteering to do the pizza run during Fire Prevention Week,” Somerville said. “It’s a lot of fun and the kids think it’s pretty cool when a fire truck comes to their house. This is the type of event that makes Bay Village so unique.”