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Kindergarten students at Pleasant Lake Elementary School pose with firefighters during a fire prevention session at school this week.
Lt. Josiah Longenecker helps a student put on a firefighter tank backpack at Pleasant Lake Elementary.
Firefighter Luke Harrell’s son wears a helmet during the fire prevention class at Pleasant Lake Elementary School.
Kindergarten students at Pleasant Lake Elementary School pose with firefighters during a fire prevention session at school this week.
Lt. Josiah Longenecker helps a student put on a firefighter tank backpack at Pleasant Lake Elementary.
Firefighter Luke Harrell’s son wears a helmet during the fire prevention class at Pleasant Lake Elementary School.
PLEASANT LAKE — Steuben Township Fire Department, with the help of Salem Fire Department, held a fire prevention day at Pleasant Lake Elementary School Tuesday.
Although firefighters come to the school with presents, unlike Santa they have to put on their uniforms right in front of the kids not to scare them.
Steuben Township Fire Chief John Stalf said the purpose of the event was to teach children what to do to prevent fire and how to behave if it did. This year is also special for the fire prevention program at Steuben Township as its fire department received a grant that allows them to better engage kids in their classes.
Although the firefighters annually had fire safety talks at all grades, not all of the kids received the gifts that could remind them about the fire safety rules even after the class.
“This year we went a little out to try to reach more of the older kids rather than just the younger kids,” said Stalf. “So, the second, third, fourth, fifth grades, we really didn’t get anything for them. This year with the grant, we were able to cover all the grades.”
Over the years that Steuben Fire Department has taught local kids to protect themselves against fire, the firefighters learned some tricks on how to approach the kids. One is that the firefighters do not enter pre-school and first grades classes in their turn out gear, as it scares the kids.
“They view a firefighter as if he was Darth Vader,” said Stalf.
So, the firefighters put on their uniforms already in the class, to show the kids that they are humans. Even the second graders start to move back when they see a firefighter in the uniform entering the room, said Stalf.
This year as Steuben Township Fire Department received a NIPSCO grant of $1,200 for their fire awareness program. The kids got more memorabilia that will remind them of the importance of staying safe and following fire precautions.
Stalf said that the usual practice is that their fire department pays out of its own pocket $300-$400 annually to order firefighters’ hats for the kindergarteners and pencils with fire prevention insignia, and the coloring books on fire prevention that “teaches how to get out of your house safe.”
“We would spend $300 to $400 out of our own pocket within the fire department for fire prevention,” said Stalf. “But there’s a lot of things that we always wanted to do and were never able to fund.”
This year not only the youngest kids at Pleasant Lake Elementary got the gifts that will remind them of fire precautions, but also older students up through fifth grade. Among the presents for the students this year the firefighters brought silicone wristbands and magnets.
Stalf said they also did smoke alarm training, and they asked the kids who of them did not have smoke alarms at their homes. This year, said Stalf, only about seven out of 175 kids said they did not have smoke alarms at home.
“The ones that say no, give their names to the teacher and then the teachers contact us later,” said Stalf.
He said that the fire department then would be contacting the families to install the smoke alarms for free, “so that they have them.”
Stalf said they were doing this every year, and he hoped that they would soon get to the point where no kids would raise their hands at the smoke alarm question.
“It’s good for us. It’s good for them. It’s great for everyone,” said Stalf.
Stalf said that the firefighters spent almost all Tuesday at Pleasant Lake Elementary from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., starting with kindergarten, then proceeding with the first grade, and then with second and third grades together, and with fourth and fifth grade together.
“And we have lunch with them, and then like at recess, they come out and get into fire trucks,” said Stalf.
Salem Fire Department helped with one person volunteering for the event adding up to the six firefighters. Stalf said that Salem always wanted to do fire prevention, but they did not have their own school to do fire prevention there.
During their 45-minute classes along with the smoke alarms the kids got to discuss safe places to go in case of fire, what to do if a fire starts, and “stop, drop, and roll” techniques. Stalf said that these really simple things have already saved at least two kids who fell in campfires.
“Even if we help one kid, it’s better than nothing,” said Stalf. “This is all worth it.”
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