Four kids fire chief for a day
Fire Chief for a Day was the title four lucky elementary school students took as their own on Saturday at Prince George Fire Rescue Hall No. 1.
The children’s names were picked during a random draw and were among 4,000 who were given the chance to participate in the education piece provided to them during Fire Prevention Week, a national initiative to raise public awareness about the dangers of fire, how to prevent it and how to keep their family safe by having, and practicing, an escape plan.
The four participants were Jackson Wium, 8, from Malaspina Elementary, Johnny Rosenburg, 8, from Foothills Elementary, Murray Wanner, 8, from Glenview Elementary and Vivian Ingraham, 6, from Harwin elementary.
Prince George Fire Rescue has hosted the event for more than 15 years.
The children, accompanied by their parents, were taken on a tour of the fire hall, located at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Dominion Street, which included a demonstration of what personal equipment a firefighter uses, including respirator with oxygen tank, helmet, coat, pants and boots, and what special equipment is featured on a fire truck.
One of the many highlights included a special visit to Fire Chief John Iverson in his office.
Iverson offered his seat to each of the children, replacing the name plate on his desk with one for each of the children.
Jackson was pretty happy to be there but his reaction was surprising when he was offered the chief’s chair.
“I’m gonna take a nap,” Jackson smiled and promptly closed his eyes.
“You’re the boss today, what would you like us to do?” Iverson asked.
“I don’t know,” Jackson said.
Then Iverson asked if he had any questions.
“When’s lunch?” Jackson laughed. Iverson asked each child if they had any orders for the firefighters at Hall No. 1 but each declined to give any orders while Iverson suggested an order of getting the firefighters to talk about fire safety with all the children.
After the tour and time spent with firefighters and chief, the children were presented with plaques declaring them Fire Chief for a Day, as a memento of the special occasion.
The children were then loaded into the backup fire truck where they got to take the seats usually reserved for firefighters ready for action and were promptly transported to the MacDonald’s on Victoria Street for lunch.
Each of the children was equipped with special headsets so that firefighter Trent Blair, who drove the truck, could keep in constant communication with them during the short ride. Parents followed the truck in their own vehicles to join the party at the restaurant.
To pass the time in the fire truck, Blair chatted with each of the children using the headsets and then had a riddle for them.
“Where does a polar bear keep his money?”
Nobody had a good guess, so Blair gave the answer.
“In a snow bank.”