The children’s eyes lit up when they saw that big red fire engine sitting in our parking lot. On Friday, Oct.2nd firefighters from Washoe County Fire Department, Station #17 on La Posada Dr. came to visit. The firefighters told the students all about being safe and what to do if there is a fire in their home.
The firefighters made learning fun.
They were very aware of the children’s attention span and spoke at the children’s level. One of the important aspects of fighting fires is wearing special safe clothing during a fire. As the firefighter put on all of his protective gear, i.e. hat, coat, gloves, and face mask, the fire captain spoke about safety and the children watched. The fire captain explained why they wear each item and that it can look very scary. The sound of the oxygen mask was the scariest.
They stressed the importance of the children touching the bedroom door and staying in their bedroom until the firefighters came to get them. They gave each child a chance to hug the dressed firefighter and see that they were there to help even if their appearance was frightening.
After the hugging experience, the firefighter removed the protective gear and returned to his plain uniform. Then we had a chance to climb into the fire truck. It was so big; that some children chose not to get in. The fire chief gave everyone a fire hat, a firefighter sticker badge, and a pencil.
They said goodbye and drove off with just the lights flashing. No siren to scare the children. Later that day the children made a big thank you card for all the firefighters. A few days later Miss Dawn and some of the students took it to the station and gave the card to the firefighters. I’m sure everyone including the firefighters had an awesome time.
We found the event to be very informative. The children said they learned a lot about what to do when a fire erupts near them or in their homes. We would like to thank the firefighters of #17 Fire Station one more time for taking the time to help keep our children safe.
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