A huge fundraiser for the San Diego Fire and Rescue Foundation will kick off the festivities of Fire Prevention Week in San Diego.
Saturday, the Foundation will host a Fire Safety Expo, which includes a 5K and kids run and a pancake breakfast.
The money raised will help buy personal escape systems for firefighters.
"The event is really designed to help people stop, think and prepare for fires," said Wendy Robinson, the Foundation's Executive Director.
Right now, the fire department has enough of the devices for every on duty firefighter. But they have to turn them in at the end of every shift.
The Foundation wants to raise enough money so every firefighter has their own.
The devices help firefighters get out of burning buildings faster, serving as a kind of grappling hook so they can safety jump out of a window or repel down the side of a building if things get too hot.
"The current devices they have can take up to 4-6 minutes to deploy," said Robinson. "These new ones can be set up and ready to use in 15-30 seconds. They can save lives."
At the expo, firefighters hope to focus on safer evacuations for the public. They tell people to have two different escape routes to get out of a home, or out of a neighborhood.
Once the expo is over, several fire stations around San Diego will continue Fire Prevention Week with open houses. They'll be next Saturday, Oct. 14, in Loncoln Park, Nestor and Scripps Ranch.
More information about the Expo, registration for the 5K or fun run, tickets to the pancake breakfast and the open houses can be found here.
