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St. John, Kan. —
Firefighters led children by the hand into a smoke-filled room, no it was not a role reversal of the pied pipe, it was a new experience for USD 350 school children during the city’s annual Fire Safety week.
Each year children are treated to rides on fire trucks and ambulances with wailing sirens, but this year children got to experience some of what it is like to be in a fire as they got a chance to enter a smoke simulator room at the new facilities on East Fourth Street.
“Each year we try to give them something different to do during the fire safety exercises,” said firefighter T.J. Rockenbach. “This just gives them an idea of what it would actually be like in a fire. Some people don’t think it is really that bad.”
Rockenbach said a standard party style smoke machine was used to generate the smoke. The room was pretty full of smoke and Rockenbach said that was probably a more extreme scenario.
“We would hope people would get out before it ever got that bad,” he said. “But if you’re sleeping, or down in a basement it can look like that when you go into it.”
Along with the smoke room, fire truck rides and flashlight hand out. Children participating got other fire safety training through handouts and age appropriate films.
“It was really fun,” said Kyra Garcia, 4. “I especially liked the part when they blew with siren on the truck. It was kind of loud though.”
Firefighters led children by the hand into a smoke-filled room, no it was not a role reversal of the pied pipe, it was a new experience for USD 350 school children during the city’s annual Fire Safety week.
Each year children are treated to rides on fire trucks and ambulances with wailing sirens, but this year children got to experience some of what it is like to be in a fire as they got a chance to enter a smoke simulator room at the new facilities on East Fourth Street.
“Each year we try to give them something different to do during the fire safety exercises,” said firefighter T.J. Rockenbach. “This just gives them an idea of what it would actually be like in a fire. Some people don’t think it is really that bad.”
Rockenbach said a standard party style smoke machine was used to generate the smoke. The room was pretty full of smoke and Rockenbach said that was probably a more extreme scenario.
“We would hope people would get out before it ever got that bad,” he said. “But if you’re sleeping, or down in a basement it can look like that when you go into it.”
Along with the smoke room, fire truck rides and flashlight hand out. Children participating got other fire safety training through handouts and age appropriate films.
“It was really fun,” said Kyra Garcia, 4. “I especially liked the part when they blew with siren on the truck. It was kind of loud though.”
