By Amanda Miller
St. Francis Herald – October 31, 2013
Submitted by Newz Group Clipping Service – November 13, 2013
The Goodland Fire Department and the St. Francis Volunteer Fire Department got together to give a demonstration to the Head Start preschool class last Friday. The students learned fire safety techniques in the Goodland Fire Department’s Safety Trailer.
With October being National Fire Prevention Month, the fire departments have been busy educating people and spreading awareness. They visited the Head Start preschool class to teach them a few easy to understand fundamentals about fire safety.
Friday morning, the preschool class excitedly lined up beside the Safety Trailer. While the firefighters finished getting the trailer prepared, the boys and girls got the opportunity to try on some of the firefighting gear. Gerald Lauer helped children put on the heavy, fire resistant coat and helmet. George Harper lifted the little ones and put them into his large boots.
The students then lined up and walked inside the Safety Trailer. The trailer is a converted fifth wheel mobile home that the Goodland Fire Department got with a grant in 2007.
The trailer was remodeled to house different educational tools for children to learn how to respond during a fire. It is set up like a home, but has pretend fire hazards, and some fire prevention tools.
The class began by sitting in the “living room” of the trailer and listening to the firefighter, Michael Dorn, explain different fire safety techniques. There were smoke detectors throughout the “home” that sounded off so the kids could see and hear them.
The trailer has two doors that heat up so the students could feel with the back of their hand to see if they were warm. Michael explained to the children that if it is warm, you do not go through that door.
The kitchen had a pot on the stove with a fake flame in it made to look like a fire. Here the firefighters demonstrate how to put out a kitchen fire.
There is a bedroom on the second floor that is used to show children how to respond if there is a fire downstairs in their home and they need to escape. Children follow the firefighter’s lead and escape through the window, go out onto the second floor patio, and climb down the safety ladder to escape.
A camera system is set up throughout the mobile home so you can watch the children from outside the trailer on the television screen. The trailer has a control room that operates a “smoke” system that puts out fake smoke. It can also play sound effects such as lightening, rain and hail sounds.
Smoke is released into the Safety Trailer to teach children how to crawl under and through the smoke and escape. By practicing, the children will have a better idea how to actually respond if an emergency happens.
The Safety Trailer is a very fun, interesting tool that keeps kids entertained while teaching them fire safety.
The volunteers from Goodland Fire Department, Chris Zimmerman and Michael Dorn, did an excellent job teaching the children and keeping them entertained. Some of the St. Francis Fire Department volunteered to come help with the demonstration as well. Gerald Lauer, George Harper and Shannon Grover all helped teach the Head Start students.
All of the children had a lot of fun, and it was a wonderful opportunity for the preschool students to learn more about fire safety. The Head Start class was very thankful that the firefighters took the time to come to their school.
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