Calgary Fire Department appoints Junior Fire Chief to act as Calgary’s safety ambassador for 2024 - 2025

Kyrie Rajic, age 9, was named Junior Fire Chief in a ceremony today at the Tuscany Fire Station. Chief Dongworth made the announcement and presented Kyrie with a special white fire helmet and certificate honouring his appointment.

Each year during Fire Prevention Week, the Calgary Fire Department appoints a Junior Fire Chief to act as Calgary’s fire safety ambassador. This program has been running since 2016 in partnership with the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

Kyrie’s duties will include promoting this year’s Fire Prevention Week theme, “Smoke alarms: make them work for you!”, which shares the importance of having working smoke alarms in your home. As part of Kyrie’s first day, he went for a ride in a fire engine and had lunch with the crew at Tuscany Fire Station.

“We’re excited to appoint Kyrie as our youth ambassador for the Calgary Fire Department. As Junior Fire Chief, Kyrie will help us communicate important fire safety messages with his peers, friends and community,” said Chief Dongworth. “We wouldn’t have such a successful Junior Fire Chief program without our partnership with Alberta Children’s Hospital. The impact of their dedication and support of the Calgary Fire Department and all our Junior Fire Chiefs can’t be overstated. We sincerely thank them for their continued participation and for introducing us to Kyrie.”

“We are happy to continue this important partnership between the hospital and Calgary Fire Department to select a child for the Junior Fire Chief program.” said Stacy Kelly, Special Event Coordinator at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. “The program helps to promote important initiatives and our shared values around safety, teamwork and leadership.”

During Fire Prevention Week, running from Oct. 6 - 12, 2024, the Calgary Fire Department would like to remind Calgarians that working smoke alarms are your first line of defense in the event of a fire.

Statistics show that the risk of dying in a home fire is reduced by over 50% when working smoke alarms are present. Despite this, three out of five fire deaths happen in homes without smoke alarms or where alarms aren’t functioning.

In the event of a fire, you have less than two minutes to get out of your home. To make sure you get the advance warning you need to escape your home safely:

1. Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of your home, including the basement.
2. Test all smoke alarms, including 10-year lithium-ion battery powered alarms, at least once a month by pushing the test button and replace batteries at least once per year.
3. Replace smoke alarms when they are 10 years old or don’t respond when tested. 

Fire Prevention Week is held annually by fire departments across North America. Fire Prevention Day was proclaimed in Canada in 1919 to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, as well as a major fire that destroyed the Centre Block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa on Feb. 3, 1916. Fire Prevention Day was extended to Fire Prevention Week in 1922.

To learn more about Fire Prevention Week, visit calgary.ca/firepreventionweek.