As the Memorial Day Holiday Weekend fast approaches—the traditional beginning of the summer fun season in the USA—plenty of us begin thinking of getting outdoors with family and friends.  Summer means cooking out or barbequing (it wasn’t until I moved to Virginia in 1979 that I learned that barbeque was a noun!) with family and friends whenever the weather and the time are right. 

We can’t afford to let our fire safety attitude off on summer holiday (as our European friends refer to vacations).  Summer time fun outdoors includes our use of fire in many ways: charcoal and gas grills, patio torches, insect-repellent candles, bonfires, and a relative newcomer to the outdoor scene, the patio fireplace or fire pit.

Summertime is a great time to continue teaching the fire safety message to our children as well.  We can take the opportunity to show our children the benefits of fire—cooking our meals and keeping us warm (on those chilly evenings in late spring or early fall)—that are far less obvious when the meal comes from an conventional or microwave oven and the heat comes from a hole in the floor.

Outdoor fires also provide us adults with a “living classroom” that we should also use to educate our children about the destructive side of fire.  Our children need to see, and appreciate, that the same fire that rapidly consumes the sticks and wood in the patio fire pit for our enjoyment can do far greater damage just as quickly to the wood and other combustible materials, e.g., drapes, furniture, carpeting, etc., in their home.  Our children today do not have the same day-to-day exposure to fire as past generations—starting a fire to heat the house or cook meals, chopping wood to keep those fires going, etc.  The further removed from that direct knowledge of fire we become in our modern society, the harder it becomes for our young people—and many adults—to “make the connection” between poor fire safety choices and bad outcomes.

Let’s make sure that we all have a safe and happy summer in 2008.  And let’s not forget that the real reason that many of us are off from work or school next Monday, Memorial Day, is to honor the memory of those brave men and women who gave their lives to protect our freedom and the freedom of people around the world.  My wife and I will be thinking very much about our hero and her dad, Norwood “Woody” Lester, who served with the "Screaming Eagles" of the 101st Airborne Division, and participated in the D-Day Invasion in World War II as part of a glider unit flying troops and equipment into France.  God bless you Woody, we miss you every day!