Queensbury Central Fire Department 'hires' Elf on the Shelf

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Queensbury Central Fire Department is enlisting help from the North Pole to spread the word about fire prevention this holiday season. Blaze, aka "Elf on the Shelf," joined the team this month and is quickly coming up to speed on all things fire prevention.

Leighann Johnson from the department is behind his recruitment. She was inspired to bring Blaze aboard after seeing other stations in the country deploy the same method.

From how to hang your stockings properly to watering your tree, the holiday season sees an uptick in fires so knowing what to do in your home is important to start learning from an early age. The department's Facebook account shares daily updates from Blaze.

Since sharing updates of Blaze on their Facebook, Johnson said they've seen an immediate uptick in engagement and followers.

When asked if Blaze will stick around after the holidays, Johnson said, "We’ll see how his probationary period turns out and then the chief with make a decision to see if he gets voted in or not."