Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service Interim Chief Tom Nelson is reminding the community that October 9th to the 15th is 
National Fire Prevention Week. Nelson, who has made fire prevention a key focus of his tenure as chief, said he is challenging everyone in the area to make sure that they not only have a plan to get out of their homes in case of a fire, but to look into the details of that plan to ensure it is a workable one.
Nelson said the components of a fire safety plan are generally common sense. Have two exits in the home that are clear and easily accessible. Similarly, make sure that egress window spaces are clear as well so they can be opened to allow people to get out of the house. Chief Nelson said people should sleep with the doors to their bedrooms shut to mitigate the danger of smoke from a fire while they are asleep. Storing propane in a garage can be very dangerous, he said, and tanks should be stored outside instead. There should also be a designated meeting place for the entire household, so everyone can be safely accounted for.
Nelson and NAFRS board chair Paul Liebenstein also discussed smoke detectors.
“Those rules have changed,” said Nelson. “It used to be you had to have a smoke detector on each floor. Now you have to have one in every room, along with carbon monoxide detectors.”
He also had some advice to prevent a common annoyance with smoke and CO detectors.
“With the technology now available, they make lithium-ion batteries that last 10 years. Because that’s always the nightmare. [The warning that the battery is dying] never goes off at noon, they go off at 2:30 in the morning. And it doesn’t cost that much. If you’ve got battery operated smoke detectors, replace them with these 10-year life ones. It will make a big difference and you’ll get that early warning that you need.”
Nelson also warned to keep surroundings in mind as well. Last year a house fire in Northfield was caused by a cigarette but that was thrown from a deck. The cigarette was not completely extinguished, and it caused some plants next to the house to catch fire, which then ignited the back wall. While nobody was hurt, he said, the house was destroyed.
He said members of the department will be out in the schools this week talking about what they can do to help prevent fires as well.
Library ‘Oasis’ could be first of many
Next year, the Northfield library will begin the process of phasing in a library “oasis” in the Northfield Community Resource 
Center.
Director of Library Services Natalie Draper said the space is not very big, however it will have the same level of service that the community receives at the library’s main branch. It will not be staffed full time, but there will be a self-serve checkout service, and the space will be programmed in the same way as the main branch. Draper said there is even a space for an outdoor patio that is under construction, where they are planning to offer outdoor story time. There will also be a locker that will offer 24-hour access to people wanting to put something on hold but are not able to pick it up during regular library hours.
The NCRC building, she said, is a perfect spot to put in a satellite location for a number of reasons. As the home to several important non-profit organizations including the Community Action Center, Healthy Community Initiative, Head Start and Fifty North, it makes sense, she said, for the library to join those other locations there.
“There is a big push to bring social work into libraries,” she said, “or to move libraries closer to social services and public housing. This is co-locating human services with other services.”
She said they are also thinking about people who have limited access to transportation, leaving many in that area in a “library desert.” Hence, she said, the term “Oasis.”
This location could be the first of more satellite locations as well, she said, and she and her staff are hoping to show what a smaller space like this one can offer.
“I think we’re going to use this as a model. Think of the benefit to being able to go to a space and to sit and maybe just read the paper without the expectation of spending any money, and how rare that can be. For us to think about co-locating in other spaces, you know the NCRC gives us a really good opportunity to show what that what’s possible.”
Draper said the oasis will be located in the link space in between the CAC and the Head Start entrance. It will be phased in over the course of next year and should be fully operational by 2024.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Director of Library Services Natalie Draper can be heard here
Test drive a Tesla on Saturday morning
The second annual Recharge Northfield event is set for Saturday at the Northfield Middle School. 
Northfield Shares and the Northfield Rotary Club are once again teaming up to create a showcase of electric vehicles and to foster further conversation about them.
Recharge Northfield will allow people to learn about EV’s and the benefits of owning one, not just to the planet, but to the individual as well. Alongside Northfield Shares and Northfield Rotary, the event is sponsored by the City of Northfield and Recharge America, which is a nonprofit organization that seeks to bring awareness to electric vehicles.
Attendees will have the opportunity to drive an electric vehicle, talk with owners of electric vehicles, learn about charging options, and the environmental and economic benefits of owning an EV.
Those who would like to take advantage of the test drive opportunity will want to plan ahead and arrive early. Last year the option proved to be so popular, that the wait list to drive one of two available Teslas became longer than the time available to offer the test drives.
Recharge Northfield is set for Saturday in the parking lot of the Northfield Middle School, from 10am until 1pm. The event is free and open to the public.
KYMN will be broadcasting live from the event from 11:00 until noon.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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