Saturday 10 October 2009

preventing the blazes

A sleepy day here in the village, another gorgeous fall day, all copper and orange and bright bright colors....and WHAT IN SAM HELL IS GOING ON AT THE SCHOOL?

There are firetrucks galore


Firefighters in full gear

And lines of children, staring at all the goings-on.


My heart began to pound. Then I remembered.

It's Fire Prevention Week!

Every year, the three local fire departments volunteer to come down to the school and show the children not only what a fireman looks like when he (or she - there are a few fire-women in the area) is coming to find you in a room full of smoke, but hammer home the finer points of stop, drop, and roll and to explain the equipment they use. There's a lot of joyous climbing in and onto fire trucks, some yanking of the air horns, hoses and compressors and face masks to ask questions about and maybe even touch, and a fire drill. Some years there are fire hose demonstrations and the big kids get to hold the hose while it sprays. It is a big day.

The parking lot is full of red and white every year. Our tiny village school gets dedicated support for this from three fire departments - this year, there were six trucks. Six trucks!

And the kids come home burbling and excited, full of stories and explanations and knowledge, dressed up in a day of fun. They'll remember this for a long time.

The day they sat on top of the fire truck, high in the blue sky, stuffed with new knowledge, and looked out over everything.

5 comments:

Jen on the Edge said...

I think firetrucks are just so cool.

My stepfather is a master electrician and the only place he's ever worked is for a company that makes firetrucks, school buses, and ambulances. As you can imagine, that makes him enormously popular with his grandchildren, who are always asking to go see the in-process vehicles.

Linda said...

October was always fire prevention month is school when I was a little girl. I had nightmares every single night that the house was on fire and I couldn't get out. I'm still nervous in October!

xoxo

My float said...

Aren't those activities fantastic for kids?

Chantal said...

My boy did that last year at daycare. I wonder if they will do it at the school. We have 700 students so it may not be possible logistically. Sure is fun though!

Anonymous said...

S I G H... firemen...

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