Local Elementary Schools Talk Fire Safety

Indian Lake Elementary School second graders are learning how to escape safely if a fire breaks out.

Volunteers from the Indian Joint Fire District, Russells Point Police, and the Lakeview Fire Department showed students their fire trucks recently.

In addition, students watched a video about how to escape a fire and establish a family meeting place.

Firefighters also put on all their equipment so the children can see what they look like dressed in their protective boots, coats, gloves, masks, helmets, and air tanks.

Russells Point Police Chief/volunteer firefighter Joe Frehof urged the kids to decide with their parents on a family meeting place outside their home to gather if a fire ever breaks out.

Firefighters also encouraged the children to talk to their parents about having working smoke detectors and testing them regularly.

All area fire departments have smoke detectors available free of charge.

Local fire volunteers educate Benjamin Logan students during Fire Prevention Week

Rushcreek Fire & EMS volunteer, Mike Overturf has been providing fire safety education to Benjamin Logan Elementary students for 29 years.

Doug Lyons, Dave Davis, DC Foulk, and Duane Van Buskirk also volunteered to help cover the fire safety topics.

Teaching students how to get out of burning houses safely and quickly while helping them to know not to ever go back into a house or building to retrieve anything is one of the main objectives.

During fire safety week the preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade students have the chance to interact and become comfortable with firefighters in full gear to alleviate any fears to help prevent them from hiding during an emergency.

The firefighters let the students know they were there to help keep them safe.

Some of the fire safety topics covered during the visit included:

• Not to breathe smoke, smoke is dangerous
• Crawl low, stay under the smoke, and go to your meeting place
• Show students a smoke alarm
• Let students hear what a smoke alarm sounds like
• When the smoke alarm sounds, Get Out and Stay Out
• Check the door with the back of your hand, do not touch it if hot
• Go to a window and if you can, get out of the window safely
• Have a meeting area outside of your house that everyone in the house knows about away from the house
• If you cannot get out of your window safely, stay low on the floor right by your window, don’t hide
• Never go back into the house for any reason

The firefighters encouraged the students to identify good things and bad things with regard to things in the home that may be dangerous such as candles.

They also showed the students a smoke detector and Mr. Overturf gave the students a homework assignment to go home and talk with parents and grandparents to make sure that every floor of the house has a smoke detector.

Once they find the detectors, they need to find the little button on the bottom or the side to test it to make sure that they work. Overturf advises changing the batteries twice a year once in the fall and once in the spring.