Thanks to a state grant, the Westmont Fire Department is moving forward with plans to hold its annual open house next week after budget cuts originally led to its cancellation.

The event is part of the department’s recognition of Fire Prevention Week, From Oct. 4 to 10, and will feature a number of prevention and planning activities.

The week will also feature the 15th annual Silent Parade Oct. 9 to honor firefighters and paramedics who were killed as a result of fires.

Fire Prevention Bureau Director Doug Daniels said the open house, and Fire Prevention Week, will focus on both awareness of the dangers of fire for children and their families, and preventive measures that families can take to protect themselves from fire.

“The open house is both about education, and about us getting to know the community,” Daniels said.
The event is more important this year, because village budget cuts had originally led to the cancellation of the event, Daniels said. The open house was restored due to a $5,000 grant from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency’s Citizen Corps Council Program, he said.

“Without this grant, we did not have the money to pay for the manpower and other costs associated with the open house,” Daniels said. “The grant is a very important part of being able to put this event on.”

Among some of the activities during the open house include demonstrations of equipment from its emergency management services and dive rescue teams, a demonstration of cardiac and defibrillator systems, and other emergency equipment and vehicles.

The event will educate children in the department’s safety trailer, and will show how to escape from a home in case of a fire, how children can dial 911, and other educational information, he said.

“During Fire Prevention Week, we will also be visiting schools doing fire drills and safety inspections, and our safety trailer will visit each third-grade class at every school as part our fire prevention program,” Daniels said.

The week also will honor those who have lost their lives in battling fires with a parade and a “flashlight” vigil through the streets of Westmont.

The annual silent parade features a solemn procession of fire department vehicles from Westmont and surrounding communities, said Deputy Fire Chief Dave Weiss.

Westmont residents are invited to assemble along Chicago Avenue/Naperville Road at about 7 p.m. Oct. 9, where they can view the parade and pay tribute by holding a flashlight as the procession passes.

“The event started 15 years ago with the chiefs from Westmont, Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills and Lisle/Woodridge as a way to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice while in the line of duty,” Weiss said. “This year, we have about 70 communities that will be participating in the parade.”

The parade starts in Hinsdale and will run along Naperville Road/Chicago Avenue through those communities to Trinity Lutheran Church in Lisle, were a ceremony is then held, Weiss said.

“There are no sirens or horns, only emergency lights,” Weiss said. “The idea is that as it passes the crowds, each observes a moment of silence as the vehicles pass.”

Naperville Road will remain open during the parade, but the intersection of Cass Avenue and Naperville Road will be closed to traffic until the parade passes, he said.

For more information on Fire Prevention Week, call the Westmont Fire Department at (630) 981-6210.