Students learn about fire safety
GREENFIELD, N.Y. » Students from Greenfield Elementary School had a different kind of lesson Friday morning.
The Saratoga Springs City School District bussed students to visit the Greenfield Center Fire Company to learn all about fire prevention.
“The more we can prevent fires, the better off we are in the community; [we are teaching] these kids [about] the hazards of electrical fires and overloading outlets in the home, working smoke detectors, exit drills in the home,” said deputy chief Bryant Chouinard. “It all helps us to make sure that they get out of the house if they have a problem in the house.”
Students participated in various stations that mimicked real-life situations.
“We have a mock prop of a house on fire and we let them play with the hose and put out the fire,” said Chouinard. “A station that has a living room and a kitchen mock with different things: overloaded outlets, electrical cords running underneath the carpets, newspapers and candles that are nearby. We have another station with outdoor fires and campfires. A lot of people have either burn pits or campfire at their house, so we teach them safety with that.”
At the firehouse, there was an ambulance corps to teach children to call 911 if children see someone hurt or unresponsive.
Children also saw what happens in a house fire.
“We show them that the smoke will start up high and work its way down to the ground, [so if you] crawl out of a house — that’s where your oxygen is, it’s down low, and that’s [also] where we teach them about smoke detectors,” said Chouinard. “If a smoke detector is going off, dial 911 and exit the house.”
Children hear about fire safety throughout their education.
“It’s real important to teach them fire prevention because when they get older, and we see it from grade to grade when they get up through, they remember stuff from year to year,” said Chouinard.
The deputy chief explained how important it was for the district to bus the students to the fire station.
“We have a lot more room here so we can do this, we can set up stations,” said Chouinard. “If we had to do it at the school, we would have to downsize everything and it would be a little bit tougher.”