Kindergartners ?save the day? at house fire

Though Taryn Ryan?s kindergartners haven?t started their unit on fire prevention, they knew just what to do Tuesday morning.

Pence Elementary School teacher Ryan, associate Shannon Price and their class of 22 were walking through the neighborhood looking for numbers ? on street signs, houses and license plates ? when they spotted smoke coming off the roof and gutters at 907 Fairview Drive.

Ryan knocked on Barbara Harris? door and discovered no one was home. The class next knocked on a neighbor?s door, and he called 911.

The Fairfield Fire Department received the call around 11:15 a.m. and impressed the students with a quick response.

Fire chief Scott Vaughan said his crew discovered a small fire in the attic. The electrical fire had burned through some rafters, but hadn?t had enough oxygen to really spread before firefighters arrived, Vaughan said.

?Those things can smolder for hours,? he said.

Ryan and Price led the kindergartners back to the school after calling 911 and watched for a few minutes from the playground ? ?out of harm?s way,? Ryan said.

?I was just proud of them that they wanted to be helpful, and they knew to call 911 for an emergency,? Ryan said. She also praised their patience while knocking on doors and waiting for help.

?We saved the day,? some of the students said when they got back to school.

Vaughan said the damage to Harris? home could have been a lot worse.

?Everything on our end went as smooth as we could want it to go,? he said.

Fire damage was contained to the attic ? though the home did sustain some water damage elsewhere.

The fire department remained at the scene about 1.5 hours, mostly, Vaughan said, to pull out the attic?s insulation and make sure nothing was left smoldering.

October is fire prevention month. When Ryan?s class completes its unit on fire prevention sometime this month, she said the topic will be ?very near and dear? to her students.