Students take their fire safety lessons at the curb
Dan McClelland
by Dan McClelland
As usual, officers and members of the Tupper Lake Fire Department kicked off October's Fire Prevention Week with a visit to the L.P. Quinn Elementary School. The event began Thursday morning at 9.
In past years the local volunteers have presented fire safety lessons to the elementary school kids with multi-class sessions inside the school library. And every year the firefighters, fully dressed, pull up in their pumpers in front of the school and permit children to climb aboard to check out all the equipment and get a realistic feel for the giant rigs.
This year, with the COVID-19 pandemic in place, there were neither in-school lessons nor exploring the vehicles.
Classes filed out one after another to hear Fire Chief Royce Cole, firefighter Mark Picerno and others ask them fire safety questions every school child should be able to answer. The children did well in their responses.
About a dozen local members were there to greet each class, including Captain Matt Whitman, whose daughter Quinn was one of the first students out that morning. She was excited to see her dad in full battle dress.
The first class out was Mrs. Safford's kindergarten students, all four and five year olds. Kittie Villeneuve, teacher's aide, accompanied them to meet the local firefighters. Kittie was teleconferencing with a student who stayed in the classroom. The children in that class presented drawings highlighting Fire Prevention Week to the awaiting volunteers.
Fireman Mark Picerno greeted the first class.
“Have your teachers talked about fire prevention in class?” he asked them.
Several students chimed in together they have learned about it.
Mr. Picerno asked them what they all should do in the event they are in close contact with fire.
“If your coat is on fire or your hair is on fire, stop what you are doing and get down and roll,” one tiny fellow told Mr. Picerno.
“Stop, drop and roll, right?” the veteran fireman agreed.
“What else do we do?” asked Mr. Picerno.
Their teacher reminded her students to tell him about their meeting spot.
“Who has a meeting spot at their house, in the event of a fire?” Mr. Picerno asked them.
Several hands went up. He grilled each one and they told him individually where they were all to meet in their homes in the event of a fire.
At that point Miss LaMere's kindergarten class had converged in front of Chief Cole and several of his department members in front of the department's four-wheel drive truck.
The chief also asked them about what they should do, if the event they catch on fire. “Stop, drop and roll, right?”
All the heads nodded.
“And what else should you do?” the chief asked.
“We must cover our face when we roll!” he told them.
“Does everyone have a meeting place where you meet with your mom and dad if there's a fire at your house?”
Some young heads nodded.
“-And if you don't have one, you need to make a plan as a family,” Chief Cole told them. “Tell Mom and Dad: 'we need to make a meeting area!'”
“Do we ever play with lighters or matches?”
A resounding “no” from the youngsters.
“And if you find a lighter or matches, what do you do?” asked the chief.
“We give them to our Mom or Dad,” one tiny female voice told him.
“That's very good,” the chief praised.
“Does everyone have smoke alarms in their house?”
“I do. I do. I do.” came three young voices in a row.
“You should always have smoke alarms in your house and if you don't you should tell your Mom or Dad to get some.”
He also told the kids to remind their parents to change the batteries in all alarms on a regular basis. “That's going to be your home work today!” Chief Cole told them.
“Mine has never been changed since we got it, but it still works ” confessed one lad.
The fire chief told him to have his parents change the battery as a precaution.
He apologized to the kids that they couldn't climb on the trucks as they usually do, because of the sickness.
Chief Cole said the souvenirs for that day's event hadn't arrived on time for their visit, but he promised they would be distributed to them in upcoming weeks.
“We hope you guys practice fire safety at all times,” he told the children.
“What's the number you call if there is a fire or an emergency at your house?”
“911” was the answer from at least a half dozen students.
“Very good. Let's all say it together.”
“911!” every student told him.
“-And remember: we never play with matches. We all need a meeting area. Why do we need a meeting area? So your parents know you are out of the house and safe! And that the firemen who come to your house will know that everyone is out. And always change the batteries in your smoke alarms.”
The last thing the chief did that morning for that class was introduce Fireman Josh Clement, who was in full gear with a breathing apparatus on.
He pointed to his air pack and mask which he explained helps firemen breath and protects them when they go inside burning buildings.
“Does he look scary?” Chief Cole asked them.
“No,” was the overall response.
“Are you going to be afraid of him if you see him in your house.”
“No,” they told him.
The chief said they shouldn't be afraid of him “because he's just someone's dad, and just a normal person underneath all that gear that helps him breath in a fire. If you ever see a person in this gear, don't ever be afraid...don't ever hide under your bed.”
The chief said he will be calling out in a muffled voice “is anyone in here?”
Josh demonstrated what he would call out: “Is anyone here? Call out to me!”
The chief admitted a fully masked fireman will “sound a little weird.”
“But you always say to him: 'I'm over here! I'm over here!”
“If you need to take one of your stuffed animals or one of you toys and throw it at him so he can see you... do it! Never hide from a fireman because he's always there to help!” the chief told the kids.