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Armstrong Elementary was one of the schools where firefighters from the Robertson Fire Protection District were making the rounds during Fire Prevention Week, promoting knowledge, safety and fire prevention.

Firefighters brought their mobile “Smoke House Safety Clubhouse,” complete with a child-sized family room, kitchen and an upstairs bedroom where children learned where to look for fire hazards and who to alert if there is a potential danger in their own homes.

The family room was furnished with a mini-fireplace, a lamp, an unlit candle and a battery on the mantle. Firefighters stressed the importance of having a working battery inside the smoke detector and keeping items that could catch fire away from perilous areas, such as the fireplace and keeping rugs off extension cords or burning candles from under lampshades.

After demonstrating what to do if awakened by a fire alarm, the children took turns pretending to be asleep on a makeshift bed as the smoke machine is turned on and the smoke detector comes on.

The first volunteer lay on the bed with eyes tight and a smile on his face that he could not contain. The smoke machine hissed out a non-toxic, firefighter-approved mist that began to fog the upstairs room.

The smoke alarm sounded.

“Stay low, stay low,” the firefighter reminded as the child rolled out of the bed and crawled to the door and touched it—with the back of his hand, of course.

“It’s warm, so what do you do now?” the fireman asked as the boy crawled back into action, this time away from the warm door to the back of the room, where he escaped through a mini-patio door and down a set of vertical steps where firefighters guided each child to make sure the “escape” was safe.

(story courtesy of Hazelwood District Communications Dept.)

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