BY TOM KIURSKI
There are many ways YOU can educate your community while having fun at the firehouse. Although it is no surprise that most children are fascinated by our jobs, our fire station life, and our shiny trucks, we have a duty to educate them about the dangers of fire. In lieu of the old scare tactics, we have some fun and friendly ways to teach our community safety messages.
Think of the opportunities for connecting with your community; it’s easier to build on an existing program than to start from scratch. If you visit schools and block parties, participate in health and safety fairs, or hold an Open House during Fire Prevention Week, then you already have a good start.
 1 Photos courtesy of Livonia Fire & Rescue. |
Is your school fire and life safety program effectively teaching this information to students? Ask the teacher for constructive feedback after the presentation. If the education has merit, then ask if it was fun for the kids. If not, ask yourselves how to make it more fun. Adding stories, props, puppets, or anything that can add to a lecture is always a plus. Kids also like to be active participants, not passive listeners. Plan activities to get them involved, such as practicing “Stop, Drop, and Roll,” “Crawl Low Under Smoke,” and the “Hang Drop” method for escape through a second-story window.
Make sure your department has a written outline of the information that must be covered, along with a bin of props and handouts. Some firefighters can do a great job in front of children; others may just need more experience. A written outline keeps all firefighters on track to deliver a quality program.
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Block parties are a great way to get firefighters to interact with the community members in a social nonemergency setting. As above, consistency is the key, so a written outline helps here, too. Some neighborhoods may have a predominance of seniors; others may have lots of kids of different ages. Such a mix forces us to think on our feet, but we should have a good grasp of this type of audience.
Turnout gear demonstrations are always a hit, and an introduction to the thermal imaging camera usually impresses all audiences. If you have ambulance units in your fire department, a young volunteer from the audience looks good with a sling on an arm and an air splint on a leg.
Health and safety fairs are another way we can reach out into the community. Although our audience will generally stroll slowly by us and accept our free handouts, we have to try to get some good face-to-face interaction going. Offering blood pressure checks or cholesterol screening or presenting a question-and-answer game with a prize may get people to a stop at your booth. A number of good questions for a Q&A are listed in the National Fire Protection Association’s “Remembering When” program for anticipated senior audiences.
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The Open House held at the fire station is the best opportunity for educating our community, since we can show them whatever they want to see. Fire trucks, gear, living quarters, and special teams can all be displayed at this event. With a display of knots typically used in firefighting, visitors could test their expertise in this skill (photo 1). Although this event needs planning and coordination, the rewards can be innumerable.
Look at the displays you currently have and see if any need to be cleaned up or replaced. Consider adding to your inventory. Since firefighters can build almost anything in rather short order when they put their minds to it, this can be done with little expense. Once, I threw out an idea and the crew soon had blueprint-quality drawings on a napkin that far exceeded my project idea.
A small display of burnt objects pulled out of fire buildings is an excellent display. It can be small enough to carry to any event and can be a great inspiration for citizens to take the few minutes to check their smoke alarms or create an escape plan. Include a partly melted, fire-damaged smoke alarm with each display to help further drive home the message.
Smokey the Bear and Sparky the Fire Dog are two great champions in our corner. Make sure you include some type of display, poster, or other piece that brings attention to them and the fire prevention cause. Both of these great characters have fantastic Web sites that are loaded with family-friendly fun that your citizens can keep at home long after the Open House is over. Pass out bookmarks or other handouts that include these characters’ names and Web addresses for later retrieval. Just by visiting the Web sites, you can download enough material to make an impressive wall poster that can be seen by all of your Open House attendees.
Kids love to pretend they are firefighters, so why not let them, even for just a few minutes? Take some older turnout gear (cleaned, of course), and let the kids try it on. You can also find child-sized turnout gear (for looks only) so that kids can find their perfect fit. We found that making a two-wall unit and having the gear nearby kept visitors from grabbing the gear off the wall and trying it on for themselves (photo 2). Plastic fire helmets make a memorable keepsake and can be found quite cheaply. Have a mirror nearby for the “firefighters” to get a look at themselves, but there will undoubtedly be an abundance of cameras or camera phones at the event.
Speaking of cameras, I find it challenging to include many different photo opportunities at the Open House. Painted plywood with bases and a cutout for a face were a hit at carnivals of old, so why not have them at your event? It makes a nice throwback idea for your citizens (photos 3). An old set of turnout gear attached to some PVC pipe of various sizes can make a neat firefighter body. All the user needs to do is stand close to the back of it, and it looks like they have gear on!
Finally, presentations during your open house can help draw crowds to see a special event. Vehicle extrication demonstrations are quite popular, along with rope rescue demonstrations. Cooking fire demonstrations, fire extinguisher training, a mock heart attack with fire department response, vehicle fires, puppet shows, and clowns can all make lasting impressions on your audience. Be sure to have seating areas available during these events.
Having fun at the firehouse can take a few twists, as well. An event that is growing in popularity with fire departments is the Citizens Fire Academy. This program provides your community with lots of inside knowledge about the job, its requirements, the people involved, and equipment. The event runs for a predetermined number of weeks (10 seems to be pretty average) and usually meets one night a week for about three hours. Topics covered include fire stations and response areas, vehicle introduction, SCBA, search and rescue, fire prevention and fire safety education, and hose handling. A graduation ceremony on completion with a certificate and golf shirt with “Citizens Fire Academy” printed on it are pretty standard issue.
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These are just a few of the many ways you can bring your citizens fun at the firehouse. Ask around to see who has these events near you and get more ideas. Check online resources for additional information to help make your next event a huge success. ■
■ TOM KIURSKI is a lieutenant, a paramedic, and the director of fire safety education for Livonia (MI) Fire & Rescue. His book Creating a Fire-Safe Community: A Guide for Fire Safety Educators (Fire Engineering, 1999) is a guide for bringing the safety message to all segments of the community efficiently and economically.
