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Gainesville firefighters educated local students last week about what to do in case of fire.

Gainesville firefighters educated local students last week about what to do in case of fire.

The Gainesville Fire Department went on a mission around Gainesville this week, teaching elementary students what to do in emergency situations and how to stay safe around fire and water.

Two students from Chalmers Elementary talked with the Register after the show to explain what they learned. They started with how to get out of a house that is on fire.

“You’re supposed to go to your mailbox or wherever your meeting place is with your mom and dad and call 911,” said Avery Phillips, a fourth grade student. “And if the smoke is going up, the good air is down here [gesturing to the ground] so you have to crawl your way out.”

“Yeah, like Monkey,” added second-grader Marcella Garner while demonstrating her monkey crawl.

Monkey was one of the characters in the show. Along with the Flame-Out clowns, they had to find the mailbox to meet with Sparky the Firehouse dog, as discussed in the emergency plan they made together. While explaining their plan, the Flame-Out clowns and Monkey taught the kids about the importance of making a plan with their families to have at least two ways out of their house and a meeting place in case of emergency.

Along the way, they came across a fire, a road and a river, where they taught the kids what to do in each situation, like what to do if your clothes accidentally catch on fire.

“You need to stop, drop and roll,” said Marcella Garner, a second grade student at Chalmers after the show when asked what she learned from the show.

“You need to protect your face before you start rolling, so your face won't hit the fire,” said Phillips. “In any emergency, call 911, like when Monkey’s tail was in a bonfire, that technically wasn’t a fire in a house but on Monkey, and they sprayed his butt off.”

At the river, the show taught the kids the importance of being safe while swimming.

“They ended up not going in the water,” said Garner. “Because the zipper broke on the life jacket.”

“On the show I saw, they didn’t have any grown-ups with them, and that’s why they didn’t go,” said Phillips. “They were like, ‘I’m 12,’ ‘I forgot how old I am,’ ‘I’m also 12 and Monkey doesn’t know how old he is.’”

The Gainesville Fire Department did five shows in total: one at St. Mary’s on Tuesday, two at Chalmers Elementary on Thursday and two at Edison Elementary on Friday.

At a road, the group taught the kids how to be safe crossing the road and why you need to look both ways before crossing the street.

“If you run too fast and you don’t see well you might get run into by a car,” said Garner.

Phillips added, “And you might trip and fall.”

The kids had a great time and learned a lot from the show.

“It was very funny,” said Phillips.

“I got to hit Monkey’s hand,” said Garner.

Last week was the 100th anniversary of Fire Prevention Week. This year’s campaign is “Fire won’t wait. Plan your escape TM”

“It’s important to plan and practice a home fire escape. Everyone needs to be prepared in advance, so that they know what to do when the smoke alarm sounds. Given that every home is different, every home fire escape plan will also be different,” said GFD Public Information Officer Tamara Grimes Sieger in a News release from GFD on Sept. 27. “Have a plan for everyone in the home. Children, older adults, and people with disabilities may need assistance to wake up and get out as seconds count during a fire to save lives.”

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