ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The St. Petersburg Fire Department is hosting its 31st annual fire prevention block party. It will feature a variety of fun and educational activities for all ages.
“The party is a great thing where you can see what firefighters do. Anything that rolls that we have in the fire department is going to be there. All of our specialty teams, our technical rescue team, our hazardous materials team,” said Lt. Garth Swingle, Deputy Fire Marshall and Public Information Officer for the St. Petersburg Fire Department.
The free event is from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Northwest Park, 5801 22nd Avenue North on Saturday, October 8.
The fire department is using the block party to collect donations for Hurricane Ian relief efforts.
“Hurricane Ian just happened. Obviously we’re very, very thankful that we did not take that devastation that’s going on down there so we’re really doing exactly what they would do for us,” said Swingle.
They’re asking for items like:
- non-perishable food
- water
- sports drinks
- toiletries
- new and unused clothes, socks, underwear, shoes
- tarps
- rope
- tools
- batteries
- gift cards (grocery store, gas, Amazon)
- unopened toys
“This stuff 100% is going to be placed in a trailer and be driven right down to there,” said Swingle.
These items will not only help the communities in Fort Myers but also first responders who working around the clock and lost their homes, vehicles, and belongings too while serving their communities during the storm.
“It could happen to you. That would be us right now; 70 miles is the difference. That’s all it took for complete devastation to what we had happen here in the Tampa Bay area. So we’re basically putting the foot forward where they would do for us. They would definitely be coming up here and helping us if we were directly hit,” said Swingle.