As part of the annual National Fire Prevention Week safety and awareness campaign, the Moose Jaw Fire Department (MJFD) hosted two days of tours for local students in Grades 6 to 8, offering not only education, but a chance to see firefighting equipment up close and ask any questions they could think of.
"It is a lot of fun each year. We all look forward to seeing the excitement on their faces and it's an enjoyable day showing them around and letting them see what we do," said Curtis Beler, a senior captain with the MJFD.
"Having all these kids out to the fire hall to learn about fire safety once a year gives us a chance for public education. Every year it's a different topic, so we're able to keep fire safety in the public eye and keep people engaged."
This year's Fire Prevention Week theme is 'Cooking safety starts with YOU. Pay attention to fire prevention.' The campaign runs from Oct. 8 to 14.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), which co-ordinates the campaign, offers the following tips to remind Canadians about safe cooking habits:
- The leading cause of kitchen fires is unattended cooking
- Most cooking fires in the home involve the kitchen stove
- Cooking takes alertness — don't cook if you are sleepy or impaired
- Set a timer to remind you that you are cooking
- Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove and have a kid- and pet-free zone of at least 1 metre around any hot food preparation surface
- If you have to fight a stovetop fire, slide a lid over the pan from the side, turn off the burner, and wait until the pan is completely cooled
- For an oven fire, leave the door closed, turn off the oven, and wait for the fire to die
- When in doubt, just get out — if the fire feels overwhelming, leave the house and call 9-1-1
Ryder, a 12-year-old Grade 8 student (almost 13, only 14 days to go) at William Grayson, got to ride in a pump truck and blast the sirens and horn. (Firefighters and MJFD employees conspicuously covered their ears, cautioning students about hearing loss.)
"When I first got into the seat I was all confused, there's a lot of buttons," Ryder laughed. "It made me feel really tall, too. It actually wasn't that loud in the cab with the sirens on, or it wasn't that loud compared to when you're outside, I guess."
Asked if he would operate the hose later, Ryder noted "Probably not, I don't think so, too much risk of getting wet! I already had a shower this morning."
"So, this year's theme is cooking safety, which is why we chose to host older kids for our tours this year, because these are the kids who are starting to cook and get in the kitchen," explained Cathie Bassett, the MJFD's public education officer. "We want them to be safe right off the hop, so we're focusing on how to handle grease fires, what they should have handy in case a fire breaks out in their pots, oven fires, all that kind of stuff, plus the regular fire safety habits that never get old.
"For example, working smoke alarms save lives. That's huge, I can't stress it enough, it's one of the big things for me. People must have working smoke alarms throughout their house and in their sleeping areas, too. We used to say, 'at least outside your sleeping area,' but now we want them right in the bedroom if possible. You can't afford not to."
Bassett said the MJFD is enjoying having older-than-usual kids for the tours, because it can be a rarer opportunity for them.
"We're doing the safety portion, and then the fun portion, and letting them get to know what the firefighters do, as well. It's been great."
In response to some providers blocking access to Canadian news on their platforms, our website, MooseJawToday.com will continue to be your source for hyper-local Moose Jaw news. Bookmark MooseJawToday.com and sign up for our free online newsletter to read the latest local developments.
