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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Members of the Boardman Fire Department walked first-graders at Stadium Drive Elementary School around the fire truck, showing them the different parts of the truck including the hose and ladders.
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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Lieutenants James Yocum and Will Ferrando Jr. walked children through the smoke house where they practiced safely getting out of fires in kitchens and bed rooms.
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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Lieutenant James Yocum helped children climb out of the smoke house and onto the pavement Oct. 6 to teach them about fire safety.
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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Members of the Boardman Fire Department drove a fire truck to Stadium Drive Elementary School on Oct. 9 to show children how the truck works and teach them about fire safety.
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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.First-graders were allowed to try on fire fighter protective gear during their visit to the Boardman elementary schools on Oct. 10.
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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.As the room filled with smoke, Lieutenants Will Ferrando Jr. and James Yocum helped children climb down a ladder out of the window of the smoke house.
By JESSICA HARKER
Boardman elementary schools recently received special fire safety training for first-graders.
Throughout three days members of the Boardman Fire Department visited each of the Boardman elementary schools to give students hands on fire safety training.
Fire safety inspectors Lieutenant James Yocum and Will Ferrando Jr. led the event.
“We just give them basic fire safety information, teach them how to be safe at home and at school,” Yocum said.
During the event children were brought into the fire departments smoke house which simulates fire situations in kitchens and a bedroom.
“We teach them stay low and go, get out and stay out, you don’t go back inside for things,” Yocum said. “What to do when smoke detector goes off and how to check door for heat.”
The fire department also uses the smoke house for the kindergarten Safety Village event every year for Boardman.
Yocum said it’s the perfect age to instill good fire safety lessons.
“The younger kids are usually more engaged in it, and when you do it for the younger kids they tend to be more excited even when they know the answer,” Yocum said.
After the officers teach the children various lessons in safety, including being sure to have a meeting point and to always change the battery in the fire alarm, they go through a fire safety simulation.
Children are brought into the ‘bedroom’ area of the smoke house and the room is filled with smoke.
Officers then help children climb out the window and find their meeting spot with the rest of the class.
“The schools have helped a lot with it. Its more or less about trying to get them understand at home as well,” Yocum said.
Ferrando explained that because of the age of many of Boardmans schools they are required to do more fire drills a year than average.
For this reason the fire department works very closely with the schools, attending all of their fire drills and even pulling surprise drills at least once a year.
“Its something we do every year, its not to say they are doing anything wrong its to see what we can do to make it better,” Yocum said. “Kids seem to know what to do, sometimes it catches teachers by surprise.”
The department works with school resource officers and other contacts within the school to be sure not to interrupt state testing or other important school activities, but is always sure to take teachers and students by surprise.
“They have a good understanding of what to do, we just make sure to keep them on their toes,” Yocum said.