Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Volunteer Firefighter Jenni Jacobson assists a local Head Start student with A fire hose as a part of the annual Fire Safety event at the Wakefield Volunteer Fire Department on Thursday.
By ISABELLE KLEINSCHMIDT
Wakefield - The Wakefield Volunteer Fire Department held its annual fire safety event for local schools Thursday. Around 200 kids showed up.
Volunteer firefighter Jenni Jacobson was on hand to give the kids fire safety information.
Along with getting to sit in the fire trucks and spray the hose, students were given a tour of the facility and a demonstration of firefighters in full gear.
"Kids will tend to hide during a fire, under a bed, in a closet or in a bathtub," said Jacobson. The firefighters tell the kids, "We sound silly, not scary, so that they will be more apt to come to us during a fire."
They went through a live fire drill and practiced "stop, drop, and roll" with the firefighters.
"The kids just love it," said Head Start teacher Dawn Bebeau.
Fire chief Mike Yon showed the children all about the interworkings of the fire trucks, including the lights, hose, siren, and the extrication equipment.
"Don't Wait, Check the Date," was this year's fire safety theme. "Any smoke alarm has the manufacturer's date on the back, and if the date is over 10 years old, throw it out and get a new one," said Jacobson.
The children are taught life-saving information, such as making a fire safety plan, choosing a family meeting place, and not crossing the street in the event of a fire.
The fire station applies for grants to put on the event. Each child is sent home with their own gift bag containing more fire safety information and worksheets, crayons, stickers and firefighter hats.
Every year, the department holds an ice fishing contest on Michigan's Free Fishing Weekend in February to raise additional funding for the event.
