Seymour firefighter Chandler Christopher gives a “high five” to kindergartener David Felipe during a session about fire prevention on Tuesday afternoon at Seymour-Jackson Elementary School.
Seymour firefighter Seth Thompson, right, talks to students in Julie Rueger’s kindergarten class at Seymour-Jackson Elementary School about fire prevention while Chandler Christopher puts on firefighting gear to acclimate students to what a first responder would look like.
Sparky the Fire Dog demonstrates how to stop, drop, and roll on Tuesday afternoon for Julie Rueger’s kindergarten class at Seymour-Jackson Elementary School.
Seymour firefighter Seth Thompson, right, talks about smoke detectors with children in Julie Rueger’s kindergarten class on Tuesday at Seymour-Jackson Elementary School.
Seymour-Jackson Elementary School kindergarten teacher Julie Rueger gives a sticker firefighter badge to one of her students, Ansley Williams, after Seymour firefighters gave a presentation on fire prevention on Tuesday.
Seymour firefighters Chandler Christopher, left, and Seth Thompson — joined by Sparky the Fire Dog —talk about fire prevention with students in Julie Rueger’s kindergarten class Tuesday at Seymour-Jackson Elementary School.
In honor of National Fire Prevention Week, elementary school students have spent time this week learning about fire safety from local firefighters.
On Tuesday afternoon, Seymour firefighters Seth Thompson and Chandler Christopher discussed fire safety — with the help of mascot Sparky the Fire Dog — at Seymour-Jackson Elementary School.
This year’s theme is “Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety,” and Thompson gave demonstrations to kindergarteners about what a smoke detector does and how to hold down a button on one so it makes a loud noise to signal it is working properly.
“If it smells smoke it makes that noise to let you know to get out of your house,” he told Julie Rueger’s classroom.
In 2020, Seymour firefighters 35 residential fires.
Thompson asked all of the students to talk to their parents about smoke detectors in their houses after school. He also said they need to talk to their families planning where they should meet outside the home in the event a fire would break out and everyone had to be evacuated from their home.
Seymour students normally have the chance to tour their local firehouse during National Fire Prevention Week each year. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic they were instead shown a video made by the Jackson County Public Library. That video shows Seymour firefighters giving a tour of the department’s headquarters.
Another question Thompson wanted the kindergarteners to ask their parents about is where the fire extinguisher is located in their home. When one student asked him if fire extinguishers were safe, Thompson assured everyone they were and that firefighters use them all of the time.
Christopher donned his firefighting gear, which weighed about 80 pounds, to “high five” the students and show them they don’t need to be scared if the should meet a firefighter responding to an emergency.
Teaching the quintessential lesson on how to respond to clothes catching fire, Sparky the Fire Dog “stopped, dropped and rolled” in front for the class.
Before the firefighters left the classrooms, students were given red plastic firefighter hats, a firefighter badge sticker and an apple.
Fire Chief Brad Lucas said National Fire Protection Week is important because children are reminded about how dangerous fires can be and what steps should be taken to prevent them.
He said since temperatures start cooling, people are starting to heat their homes. Now’s the time they need to remember to check smoke detectors and batteries, fire extinguishers, be careful of candles and not to use extension cords to power space heaters, he said.
“The more that we remind them, the more it sinks in with them that you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Lucas said. “Nobody plans to have a fire. Fires are accidental and these are ways to prevent them.”
When a smoke detector chirps a single time, Lucas said that means there’s a low battery and it needs to be changed. If a smoke detector is constantly going off, that means the detector is picking up smoke and a fire may be present near the device.
The first National Fire Protection Week was in 1922 and sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association. According to nfpa.org, the week was recognized as a national observance by President Calvin Coolidge in 1925. It is always observed during the week of Oct. 9 to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire that started on Oct. 8, 1871 and ended Oct. 10, 1871.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, house fires are more common in colder months when people spend more time inside, with cooking and heating equipment being the leading causes.
The American Red Cross reports they respond to 27% more fires from November until March. That agency provides food and water for firefighters and help victims with temporary housing needs.
“Home fires are the nation’s most frequent disaster, and we want to ensure everyone knows how to protect themselves and their loved ones from these everyday crises,” said Leslie Montgomery, regional disaster officer for the American Red Cross–Indiana Region in a press release about Fire Prevention Week. “We are grateful for the support of our volunteers and partners to help prevent needless fire tragedies.”
The American Red Cross recommends teaching children what a smoke alarm sounds like and what to do in an emergency. They also recommend placing smoke alarms on each level of a home, checking the manufacturer’s date of smoke alarms, include two ways to exit every room, selecting a meeting spot that’s a safe distance from one’s home, and creating an escape plan to meet everyone’s needs in a household.
For every household, the American Red Cross recommends checking smoke detectors every month and practicing a home fire escape plan at least twice a year.