Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

boulder city:

Elementary school students get lesson in fire safety

Boulder City Fire Station Tour

Boulder City firefighter-paramedic Bill Wilson shows first and second graders from Grace Christian Academy a fist on his arm as he explains that any burn larger than that warrants a call to 911 during a tour of the fire station Oct. 1. He talked about kitchen safety as he showed them the station kitchen, where firefighters cook their meals. Launch slideshow »

Boulder City

In case of fire, scream, Grace Christian Academy students were told Thursday.

Well, it was a little more complicated than that. Boulder City firefighter/paramedic Bill Wilson instructed 14 Grace Christian first and second graders taking a tour of the fire station on what to do if they cannot escape a fire.

“If you can’t go out the door and can’t get out the window, I want you to sit on the ground where it’s cool and there’s air and scream your head off,” Wilson said.

Boulder City firefighters will be there in a matter of minutes, he said. It’s a small town, and they can respond quickly.

“If I hear you, I can find you,” he said. “I will come to you.

“Don’t ever hide. Stay there on the ground and scream.”

During the tour, part of Fire Prevention Month, Wilson also showed the children the fire station kitchen and walked them through several safety tips.

If they burn themselves, they can cool off the burn in cold water, he said. If the burn is bigger than their fist, they should call 911.

Always, always, always, he said, they should tell their parents if they get burned.

He showed them smoke detectors and gave them all permission to find the ones in their house and use a broom to test them.

Then he used a sample one in the fire station to walk the children through a fire drill, starting from the tiny sleeping rooms the firefighters use while on duty.

“Everyone who wants to play this game, find a bed and sit on it,” he said. All but two children found a spot on one of the twin beds in four tiny rooms.

“When you hear the smoke detector, get on the ground and crawl to the door,” he said.

“OK, it’s night. I want to hear some snoring,” Wilson said.

The children obliged him, and Wilson pressed the button the smoke detector. A piercing sound filled the small hallway, and the children walked calmly out of the sleeping rooms.

They crawled toward the back door of the fire station and, one by one, stepped outdoors and into safety — ready to go back in another door to see the fire engines.

Pam Albin, the first and second grade teacher, said that was the most popular portion of the tour.

The children loved seeing the colorful fire trucks and tools, including the fire ax. Stephanie Barth, a fellow teacher, put on the turnouts that firefighters wear into a fire to show the children what to expect. Often a firefighter in turnouts will look like a monster to a child, Albin said.

“For them to see what firefighter looks like in their firefighting gear, if they know that’s what’s coming in through that door, they won’t feel frightened,” Albin said.

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