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‘What if’ fire safety comes to Struthers Elementary School
STRUTHERS
“What if” was the question of the morning among Struthers Elementary School students after the Struthers Fire Department presented a fire-safety video Tuesday.
“What if I have to use the bathroom when the smoke alarm goes off?”
“What if my mom is gone during a fire?”
“What if a volcano goes off, what do you do?”
Brian Stellato, Struthers fire engineer, said he kept his patience as dozens of students fired hypothetical questions at him.
“I’ve got kids this age, so I’m used to the out-there things they ask sometimes,” Stellato said.
Fire safety and prevention will be on the minds of students this week as many school districts take part in National Fire Prevention week. Struthers students between kindergarten and fifth grade will all attend fire safety presentations this week; third-grade students will tour the fire department later this month.
Struthers Fire Chief Gary Mudryk said schools across the U.S. and Canada have participated in National Fire Prevention week since the 1920s. He said fire-prevention week always takes place the week of Oct. 9 to commemorate the anniversary of the 1871 Chicago Fire.
In honor of the week, Brian Hallquist, Struthers fire engineer, said the department visited St. Nicholas School Monday morning, Struthers Middle School Monday afternoon and Struthers Elementary School Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.
“We’re hoping if you start by educating these kids on fire safety young, they’ll carry it through their whole lives,” Mudryk said. “Also, adults think logically, but kids are more fear-oriented. We want to teach kids to trust firemen and not be scared of them in our Darth Vader-like outfits.”
Almost all the third- and fourth-grade students raised hands to share or ask a question during Tuesday’s fire prevention presentation. Kids volunteered to stop-drop-and-roll in front of the assembly.
Though the fire department has focused on the kids a lot this week, Hallquist said the department wants to expand fire safety education among adults in the community. He said he hopes to host an open-house at the fire department toward the end of October for kids, parents and community members to visit and learn about fire safety. He added that the department also plans to visit assisted living centers this month.