J-M students learn fire safety with ‘smoke house’ simulator
Aiden Burwell, a Jefferson-Morgan pre-school student, bumps fists with Jefferson volunteer firefighter Trystan Weir during the elementary school’s fire prevention day Friday morning.
Jefferson-Morgan pre-school students crawl through the Waynesburg-Franklin Volunteer Fire Company’s “smoke house” simulator.
Jefferson-Morgan elementary students climb down from Waynesburg Volunteer Fire Company’s “smoke house” simulator during the school’s fire prevention day.
Jefferson firefighter Trystan Weir demonstrates to Jefferson-Morgan pre-school students how to crawl through smoke in the event of a fire.
Jefferson-Morgan pre-school students Charlie Lombardo, left, and Aiden Burwell sit in a Jefferson firetruck Friday morning.
JEFFERSON – Jefferson-Morgan elementary students learned how to crawl out of a burning house while getting a first-hand look at fire safety Friday morning during the school’s annual fire prevention day organized by Jefferson and Waynesburg firefighters.
The main attraction was the Waynesburg-Franklin Volunteer Fire Company’s “smoke house,” a fire safety trailer that fills with a thick vapor to simulate smoke filling a home.
Brian Wise, assistant fire chief for Jefferson, who organizes the event each year, said that while kids are taught in class how to respond in a fire, this simulation “adds a whole new dimension to it.”
All of the elementary students had a chance to crawl through the simulator. The firefighters didn’t use too much smoke for the pre-kindergarten students, so they wouldn’t be scared.
The first-graders, however, learned just how scary a real-life fire can be. For some, panic set in because they couldn’t see through the smoke, so they stopped crawling through and started crying for help.
Wise said those moments of panic are exactly why the simulator was important practice for those kids.
“If it ever happens to them in real life, they need to be able to know what to do in order to get out of the house,” he said. “A five-minute talk with these kids can make the difference of a lifetime.”
Jefferson firefighter Pete Pavick said the simulator is more accurate than what the students will see on television or in movies.
“We just try to emphasize that real fires are not what you see on TV,” he said. “There’s no clear brightness. It’s very, dark and you can’t see.”
The students also were able to sit in a fire truck and meet Smokey Bear, the national mascot for forest fire prevention.