Fire truck sirens rang through the streets of Madison Sunday as the Madison Fire Department and the Dane County Fire Chief’s Association held a fire truck parade on State Street in order to spread awareness for Fire Prevention month.

According to a Madison Fire Department statement the parade started at Library Mall and ended at Capitol Square. The parade was part of the activities centered around Fire Prevention Month, the statement said.

“This is a day for everyone to get together and create greater awareness about the fire service and what it does,” Lori Wirth, spokesperson for MFD said.

Wirth said Fire Prevention month has a different focus every year, and this October it will be raising awareness for kitchen fires.

MFD sees about 300 kitchen fires a year, Wirth said, noting that the department sees more kitchen fires than any other kind of home fire. She said the primary cause of these fires is the unsafe behavior people display in the kitchen.

As kitchen fires are so common nationwide, Wirth said MFD occasionally focuses a campaign on their prevention, adding that the personnel will focus on educating people on how to change their behavior through different awareness activities.

The parade is just one of many fire prevention activities that will be happening throughout the month of October, Wirth said. She said one of the main activities MFD will be engaging in is visits to local elementary schools.

Wirth said MFD likes to educate children because the hope is that they will share the information with their families.

“We talk to them about safety in the kitchen,” Wirth said. “We hope they’ll take that home to their families.”

Wirth said the parade will also provide many opportunities for children to take pictures with firefighters and the fire truck apparatus in the parade.

Because the Dane County Fire Chief’s Association also participated in the event, trucks and personnel from Middleton, Wis.; Stoughton, Wis. and other county fire departments were present as well, Wirth said.