FSFD spreading the word on fire safety, prevention in October
The Fort Scott Fire Department is out spreading its message of fire safety and prevention throughout the month of October.
FSFD Chief Paul Ballou attended the Fort Scott City Commission on Tuesday to inform commissioners of the fire department's activities during National Fire Prevention Week and throughout the month.
Ballou said the department's fire prevention education effort began Oct. 1 at local schools. Firefighters have already visited numerous preschool through fifth grade students at Winfield Scott School, Christian Learning Center and St. Mary's Catholic School and plan to visit local head starts and Eugene Ware School next week.
"It's a big month for fire departments across the nation," he said.
Ballou said while National Fire Prevention Week is observed Oct. 4-10, the FSFD will visit area schools throughout the month with its fire safety trailer, which has been used to educate local students about fire safety for the last 18 years. He said the fire house is an "unbelievable tool to train kids with.
"Kids get the opportunity to be in a little house with fake smoke," he said. "When they get above first grade, we want them to get used to how it's hard to see in it and how to get down low. We also want them to hear what the smoke detector sounds like."
Students also learn how to navigate through the house during a simulated fire emergency and how to climb out and arrange to meet with others in the house at a designated meeting place. Ballou said it's about having a plan in place and knowing how to execute that plan.
"We also go over stop, drop and roll," he said. "We want them to learn and know their address, phone number and how to call 911."
Ballou said the safety trailer contains a control room that is used to simulate a fire and a phone system connected to the trailer allows students to practice a 911 call.
"We ask them certain questions about the fire," he said. "One big thing we try to do, when they dial and we say 'What's your address?,' it puts some pressure on them. Sometimes they lock up. We want them to remember their address."
The FSFD also helps other nearby communities during Fire Prevention Week, Ballou said.
"It's helping tremendously to bring awareness out," he said.
On a separate note, Ballou also told commissioners that firefighters across the nation are wearing pink T-shirts in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Deputy Fire Chief Dave Bruner also attended the meeting to talk about a Fire Prevention Week mini-grant the department was recently awarded. The department applied for the grant, titled "Hear the Beep Before You Sleep," which promotes smoke detectors in every bedroom and every floor of a house. Bruner said the FSFD is one of three departments in Kansas to receive the grant.