Washington Fire Department to teach students about fire safety

    Young kids in Washington will receive instruction in ?stop, drop and roll? in the coming days as part of National Fire Prevention Week. The Washington Fire Department will visit Stewart Elementary, Lincoln Elementary and St. James School to teach the students what they need to know about fire safety.

    Washington Firefighter Randy Tisor said the students are broken down into groups that do different fire safety activities on different days. One of the activities the kids do is to crawl through a smoke-filled trailer that simulates a real burning building. Tisor said the fumes are just ?theater smoke? and not harmful. He said the purpose of the trailer is to show kids how smoke moves through a house, and how to avoid the smoke if their own house catches on fire.

    In the past, the firefighters have taken the students to see their fleet of fire trucks. They have also shown the students the equipment they use when extinguishing a fire, such as the 10-pound air tanks they don.

    The firefighters tell the students to talk to their parents about what to do if their house is on fire. The kids are told to choose a meeting place outside where the family can congregate to make sure everyone is accounted for. Tisor said that common selections are a neighbor?s house or ? for kids in the country ? the mailbox.

    On Wednesday night, after the fire safety activities are done, the participating students are supposed to turn on their porch light if they have practiced an escape plan with their parents and have talked to them about a meeting place. Tisor said someone drives around town and counts the number of porch lights that are on.

    Tisor said that some of the main causes of fires are carelessness when handling candles and improperly disposing of products like cigars or cigarettes. Tisor said the firefighters also tell the children not to play with fire because fire is ?grown up stuff.? He said they are also told to contact an adult if they see something on fire.

For the full story, see our Oct. 4 print edition.