Ankeny Fire Prevention Week Ends With Pancake Breakfast Today

ANKENY, IA — Members of the Ankeny Fire Department are having one of their busiest weeks this week without even counting the calls for service they respond to from the community. To end Fire Prevention Week events, the department has scheduled a pancake breakfast today from 7 to 11 a.m.

National Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 8 through 14. The department has held an open house this week and several story times for toddlers.

The Ankeny Fire Department Association's annual pancake breakfast will be at the fire station headquarters, 120 N.W. Ash Drive. Department personnel will serve a breakfast of pancakes, sausage, juice and coffee. A free-will donation will be accepted with proceeds benefiting the association's projects and membership.

To spread awareness of fire safety among the youngest residents in the community, Ankeny firefighters also read to toddlers and preschoolers throughout the week at Kirkendall Public Library, 1210 N.W. Prairie Ridge Drive. After a story, children got to see a fire engine and talk with firefighters.

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Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres, the Ankeny department said in a news release. The fire began Oct. 8, but continued into the next day. Fire Prevention Week has been observed since 1922. This year’s theme is “Every Second Counts: Plan 2 Ways Out!”

Ankeny Fire Department/Patch file photo