The government and firefighters have launched a campaign to make people more fire safe.

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) is partnering with the Aboriginal Firefighters' Association of Canada to help educate and raise awareness about preventing fires and how people can protect themselves.

The campaign is called the BeFireSafe Campaign, and it focuses on fire prevention inside and outside the home in hopes of reducing fire-related deaths, injuries, and damages.

Prevention and safety tips will be released throughout the "fire season."

However, both organizations stress fire prevention is important year-round. For example:

• buring yard waste or open pit fires contribute to more than 25 per cent of al grass and brush fires;
• heating appliances are contributing factors in 1 in every 7 reported home fires and 1 in every 6 home fire deaths;
• 90 per cent of deaths occur in homes that do not have working smoke detectors.

You can protect your family, home and property by not leaving open fires unattended, operating and maintaining heating equipment, careful storage of chemicals, and practicing barbeque safety.  Additional tips for the home include:

• keeping anything that can burn at least 3 feet away from any heat source like fireplaces, wood stoves, radiators, or space heaters;
• having a certified Wood Energy Technically Trained (WETT) person clean and inspect your chimney and vents every year;
• ensuring a certified Wood Energy Technically Trained (WETT) person installs your wood burning appliances;
• installing working smoke detectors on every level of your home, just outside of  bedrooms and testing them once a month to ensure the battery is working. Change the battery once a year; installing a Carbon Monoxide detector is just as important as a smoke detector and one should be located on every level of your home;
• develop a home escape plan and discuss it and practice it with your family twice a year.