Iowa Department of Public Safety
Larry L. Noble, Commissioner
215 East 7th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50319

Raymond A. Reynolds, Director

Division of the State Fire Marshal Urges Parents to Tweet this Independence Day

Des Moines, IOWA --- The State Fire Marshal Division and the National Fire Protection Association would like to encourage parents with active Twitter and Facebook accounts, to send regular messages to younger family members and friends.

State Fire Marshal Inspector Dan Wood says, “Using social media to convince your children to play it safe this July 4th shows your kids you can communicate with them on their level.  The fire service is constantly developing new methods to communicate fire prevention messages to children of all ages. Fire prevention messages from Mom and Dad serve an important role in building family communication and awareness.”  

The following Tweets and Facebook posts are recommended for young teens:

• Please save your family a trip to the ER.  Don’t mess around with fireworks kiddo! Love, MOM!
• Did you know that that sparklers burn at 1200° F?  And you’ve burned yourself on just the toaster…  Stay safe! Love, DAD!
• http://youtu.be/NzKMYzpA6uk Gross huh?  Try and keep your head this weekend.  Stay away from fireworks.  Love DAD!
• Your bottle rockets can’t compete with the big city show tonight.  So let’s skip em’ OK?  Love MOM!
• July 4th is pretty awesome!  But let’s not go nuts and become one of the 200 people per day who are hospitalized from messing around with fireworks, OK?  Love MOM! 
• This is just about how silly you look when messing around with fireworks: http://youtu.be/PcFuIEwbITA  Love Dad!

Remember to leave fireworks to the professionals!  Fireworks are unpredictable.  Every July 4th, a person in Iowa is severely burned from consumer fireworks.  Consider the potentially serious consequences of igniting fireworks.  Burn injuries happen very quickly and have life-changing effects.

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