COLORADO SPRINGS -- The Stratmoor Hills Fire Department invited the community to an open house Saturday to learn about safety and to see several demonstrations like car burns, fire extinguishers and how the Jaws of Life are used to rescue people who are trapped in crashed cars.

News5 spoke with Fire Chief Shawn Bittle about the importance of community preparedness.

"Throughout my entire career, I've never responded to an emergency call and had someone come up to me at their house fire and say, 'We've been planning on this house fire for the last three weeks.' You know, it's an accident," he said.

The population is growing in the area, and Chief Bittle tells us that's creating some new challenges.

"Our apartment complexes are going up everywhere. So with those numbers of people come elevated numbers of emergencies. We have to be prepared for that and be ready for the situation," he said.

Watch the full story above to hear from community members about the importance of fire saftey.

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