Students at the Boght Hills Elementary School got a crash course on fire prevention safety on Thursday, Oct. 13, from the Boght Hills Community Fire Department as part of National Fire Prevention Week.
A tour of a fire truck and a mock house were provided to students at the school. The demonstrations were provided to children from grades kindergarten through second grade, while students from third grade through fifth grade sat through a presentation and discussion of fire safety tips put on by the Colonie Fire Prevention and Investigation Department.
Patrick Knapek, a station keeper at the Boght Hills Community Fire Department, said the fire department wants to show children at a young age how useful the fire department can be for the community and also some of the different equipment firefighters use during a fire or a wide variety of other incidents.
“For instance, today we brought our rescue truck, which carries not only fire suppression equipment, but also first aid equipment and extrication equipment,” Knapek said. “We also carry water rescue equipment and hazardous material equipment.”
Representatives from the fire department provided what they call “public education” to many of the students and gave them some fire safety tips, such as not plugging too many electronics into an outlet, not playing with matches and lighters and also when to tell an adult about a possible fire hazard they see.
“We’re just trying to educate the kids that if you see something, say something,” Knapek said.
Ben Stevens, a fire protection specialist with the Town of Colonie’s Fire Prevention and Investigation Department, recalled a story of when a child had a small fire in his house and called the fire department.
“I did this program last year at a different school in Colonie and within a day or so a kid had a small fire in the house, he was home alone,” Stevens said. “I was told that the people responded to the house that he knew what do because he had learned it from one of our assemblies and what information to give. He was able to do the right thing and get the help that he needed. I listened to the 911 call and he did a great job. … He was calm and did exactly what he was supposed to do.”
Stevens said the kids do in fact get the message and that they try to update the message each year. He said this year’s theme is protecting your family from fire. He does just that, as Stevens said he and his daughter constantly go through what the family’s escape route is in case of a fire and even use a toy phone to practice calling 911.
Still, Stevens believes fire safety shouldn’t just be the focus of a day or a weeklong program, it should be something that should be discussed year round.
“It can be incorporated into other things,” Stevens said. “It should be focused on all year long.”
Boght Hills Elementary School teacher Kim Greiner said the school has built an important relationship with the fire department and the Town of Colonie fire services. She also said that the program has been an effective one and that the message seems to be getting through to the students.
“We’ve had a number of kids actually say during the assembly they remembered what to do when there was a fire in their house or they told their mom or dad something was unsafe,” Greiner said. “What they learn, they take home.”
