Tips to stay safe during fire season

We have been receiving and abnormal amount of fire calls this year. These fires have started from all sorts of sources from spontaneous combustion to a faulty thermostat to a laptop charger overheating. The bottom line is fires can happen to anyone at anytime. We want to make sure our customers take the steps to be prepared if disaster does strike.

Here are a few items to think about during this season:

• Scrapbooks- Are they stored in a firesafe case?
• Photo's- Are they backed up at an off-site location such as a safety deposit box?
• Inventory of contents- Keep a journal of model numbers, prices and pictures of electronics and other valuables inside the home. This helps with replacement costs for the insurance company.
• Insurance coverage- Have you met with your insurance agent lately to review your policy? Have you purchased any new valuable items such as firearms or jewelry that aren't listed on your policy? Make sure you have enough coverage for your contents...whether you have renters insurance or a homeowners policy.
• Pets- Would the fire department know there are pets inside the home should something happen? Do you have a "pets inside" sticker visible?
• Fire extinguisher- Do you have one? Do you know where it is if you needed to put out a fire in the middle of the night? Do you know how to use it?
• Fire escape plan for your family- Have you met with your family and made a plan if a fire were to happen? Would your children know how to get out of the house safely?
• Smoke alarms- When is the last time you changed the batteries in the alarm or tested them? Smoke detectors save lives...did you know the fire department will come to your house to inspect your smoke detectors and make sure your home is safe? You can call the local fire department to schedule an inspection anytime.

We hope these items help to prepare you better if a fire were to happen in your home. This is also a great article I found on the Montana Red Cross website. You can follow the checklist to make sure you are fully prepared.

http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/pdf/Preparedness/checklists/FireSafety.pdf

We hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year!

Firehouse Blend Coffee

We are so excited to partner with the Bozeman Firefighters to help them kick start this fundraiser. To place an order you can also call our office at 406-586-8109

The article below was published in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle earlier this week and does a good job of explaining the fundraiser.

Anyone walking down the coffee aisle at a couple local grocers today might notice a different brand resting on the shelves near the bags of Starbucks and Montana Coffee Traders.
The Bozeman firefighters’ union, the Local 613, along with City Brew Coffee, has put out a private label coffee.

The “Firehouse Blend,” complete with a fireman’s helmet with the number “613” on the bag, is being sold as a fundraiser for the union’s benevolence fund. Described as smoky and bold, it was made by City Brew Coffee. The Billings company is splitting 20 percent of its profits with the International Association of Firefighters’ Burn Foundation. That money will go to the International Burn Camp in Washington, D.C., where a firefighter and a child from each state spend a week together.

Money from sales of individual bags of coffee goes entirely to the local union’s benevolence fund, said Josh Charles, an engineer with the Bozeman Fire Department. The benevolence fund is for things such as buying toothbrushes and clothes for families affected by house fires and to help firefighters unable to work because of injuries, he said.

“Every bag we sell stays locally in Bozeman,” Charles said. “We wanted to have this fundraiser so we could give more back.”

It took about a year of planning and trying to make it work before the union was able to join with City Brew. The union had to commit to buying 720 bags of coffee and couldn’t find the money.
But a donation from Buffalo Restoration, a Bozeman-based company that does insurance damage repair, covered that upfront cost.
 
“We go in after (the firefighters) leave and we get to see firsthand the great job they’ve done in terrible circumstances,” said Ben Yanker, company president. “(We’ve) just really come to respect those guys and what they do to help members of the community. They go above and beyond.”

The coffee is sold at Joe’s Parkway Market and both Town & Country Foods stores in Bozeman. If all the bags go for the “minimum donation” of $10, the fundraiser should bring in about $4,000, said Cherie Swanson, business development director with City Brew Coffee and the mind behind the fundraiser.
It’s really cool, Yanker said. Selling the coffee gives the firefighters another way to raise money to give back to the community.

And some of the money from this first round of sales will go toward buying the next 360 bags of coffee, so the fundraiser can continue.

“We’re just proud to help these guys out,” Yanker said.