The Round Table
Does your department provide any type of emergency medical service for the people you serve? If so, just what type of service is it? And how is this service funded (taxes, fund raising, etc.?)
Phylliss R. Peterson, Fire Inspector, Wilmington, N.C.: Yes, we have a full educational program. We have one fire prevention officer, hired as an educational officer, whose duties also include inspections. Our programs include: a fifth grade fire safety program, which teaches EDITH or home evacuation, inspecting for hazards, fire chemistry, burn safety, summary of life safety facts for the year, and slides on the training and duties of our fire department; evening and lunchtime classes for adults at various industries, churches, social groups, and local department stores (a class on fire extinguishers is held where applicable); and a fire safety program for babysitters and scouts. Hospital safety is taught twice a month and demonstrates lift and carries and fire extinguisher use, and demonstrations are held at nursing homes and other institutions upon request. A part-time employee from the United Way teaches fire education and smoke detector fire safety to senior citizens. .Juvenile Fire Setters Program is a very special activity that we started this year, and is certainly one of the most important we have. It does not cost much to implement if you have some slides or can make your own. Some children are referred to us by our mental health center, where psychological counseling is available. Our job is strictly to teach the facts and explain what happens to children who play with fire. Through a slide and discussion, we try to convey our concern for the child. Working with a child on a one-to-one basis is very rewarding and has been very successful so far. In July 1980 we started a fire safety program for pre-school children, scheduled in the local day care centers. We show 13 slides of a child demonstrating the main areas small children are hurt. The high point of the lesson is allowing the children to stop, drop and roll on a mat. Later, we hold a sheet in the air to represent smoke, and the children gather under that as it is lowered and crawl underneath it.
David F. Murley, Captain, Bloomfield, Conn.: For the last four years we have used the Hartford Insurance Group’s Junior Fire Marshall program in grades K through 4, which are re-enforced with personnel visits, demonstrations, and films. Our personnel visit all nursery schools and day care centers to discuss and demonstrate various equipment, The annual open house has been expanded and emphasis is placed on the importance of smoke detectors. All school department and nursing home personnel are taught fire extinguisher use through classroom work and hands-on extinguishment of class A and B fires.
We teach fire safety to babysitters through a segment of the babysitter course run in town. We participate in town activities with a display which emphasizes smoke detectors and Operation EDITH. We are also frequent participators in special seminars run in town for the deaf and hearing impaired, and the disabled.
Troy Burks, Fire Marshal, Roseburg, Or.: We have a program of fire prevention education that is in operation now in the primary grades 1 through 6. We continually try to upgrade the program to keep it current and interesting to the children. Our adult education programs are mainly limited to hospitals, nursing homes, and a few commercial businesses. We do make regular public service announcements by all local media.
Our plan is to establish a more comprehensive education program in the schools by adopting the Learn Not to Burn program by the National Fire Protection Association. We hope also to prevent fires by an aggressive arson education program for the public sector. An arson task force is the goal we hope to achieve in the near future.
Jack Reed, Chief, Missoula, Mont.: As a department, we have initiated some new programs and expanded on old projects. We have an ongoing babysitter education class that deals primarily with teaching sitters fire safety and what to do if an emergency arises.
The local high schools have Career Education classes and our fire prevention personnel participate in these classes by teaching fire safety and all job-oriented phases of the fire service and the opportunities the fire service offers young people as a career.
We advertise periodically through the news media that we will do home inspections on request, conduct CPR classes for any group on request and the Fire Prevention Bureau will take their fire prevention program, complete with a slide presentation and various other demonstrations, to any group requesting it.
We sincerely believe in a continuous public education program in fire prevention as it has been reflected in reduction of our annual fire loss during the past decade.
Donald Moody, Asst. Chief, Concord, N.C.: Our fire prevention education along with our fire safety training programs are administered by the Fire Prevention Bureau. In addition to the school programs initiated some years ago in all the fourth grades, we have expanded with visits and programs in other grade levels, particularly kindergarten, first grade and pre-school groups such as Head Start. We also encourage visits by these groups to the fire station so they may get a first hand introduction to fire safety and the fire service. For the past three years we have participated in a county-wide 4-H Fire Safety Program.
We have a full-time program with all hospital and nursing center employees and recently have added programs for senior citizen groups. These programs consist of demonstrations, lectures and slide presentations on various phases of fire safety and fire prevention.
Our library of slide programs has been greatly enlarged in recent years and at present we have a various number of presentations available to the public and to civic organizations. These programs are available on a request basis.
Jane G. Jattuso, Vice President, Association of Vol. F.D., Huntsville, Ala.: In Madison County, we have an association consisting of 14 volunteer fire departments. This association enables us to pool our ideas and resources. It is an on-going program between the local schools and the volunteer fire departments. Each department works with the school in their particular area, thus establishing a working relationship between the volunteer fire department, school personnel, students and parents. We involve children in grades K through 8 in the NFPA’s Learn Not to Burn program, as well as in a countywide fire safety poster contest. Winning posters are placed on display during Fire Prevention Week at the volunteer fire departments and schools in the community.
It is our intent to encourage the high school-senior citizen group age levels to become active members in their local volunteer fire departments. By doing this they can become actively involved in training and fire prevention programs that are held routinely at their local departments and can assist in spreading the Learn Not to Burn idea throughout the community.
Lawrence H. Koehn, Chief, Bloomingdale, 111.: Over the past two years we have increased the number of personnel in the Fire Prevention Bureau from 1 to 4, making it possible for more frequent inspections of all places of business.
We have an ongoing program in the schools for children from kindergarten to the eighth grade with emphasis on’good housekeeping habits and fire safety in and around the home. It is our own thought, that if we get the message to the children, who are very receptive, they will carry the message to their parents, and parents do listen when their children speak.
Gerald A. Price, Chief, Morgan City, La.: Although fire prevention in the Morgan City Fire Department is handled by one man (Chief of the Fire Prevention Bureau), the department is keeping up with fire prevention in the following ways: inspections of all commercial buildings and private dwellings upon request; giving talks on fire safety to schools, and industrial and civic organizations; in the process of passing a code on “Early Warning Detection Systems” for hotels, motels, apartments and private dwellings; initiated codes for sprinkler systems on all hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and all buildings above three stories or more than 30 feet in height.
Rick Farwell, Fire Prevention Community Education Officer, Cheyenne, Wy.: As Fire Prevention Community Education Officer, my duty is to educate the public on fire prevention, to have demonstrations on fire equipment and fire extinguishers, to give lectures and demonstrations to schools, clubs, organizations and to help in any way to promote fire prevention in the City of Cheyenne.
So far I have talked to over 2000 students on fire safety throughout the school district and have had many fire extinguisher classes at local businesses in Cheyenne. I just completed an adult fire safety program with Mountain Bell employees who work in Cheyenne, and am presently setting up the same program for the state highway employees. When school begins I will be doing a public education class for students from pre-school to high school. During the next quarter I will also be working with the senior citizens and handicapped persons on a public fire safety program.
Fred G. Zorb, Chief, Butler, Pa.: Three fire fighters from our department visit grades K-4, accompanied by Sparky the fire dog. Each fire fighter wears a different uniform (work, dress blues, and turnout gear) and each are explained to the children. We distribute NFPA handouts and show fire prevention films. We demonstrate with gasoline and show how it explodes. We also show the children what happens when a penny is placed in a fuse. We demonstrate how dangerous it is to place aerosol cans near an open flame, and how to dispose of these cans properly.
We also have a home fire prevention program that we present to junior high school students and any other group requesting a program. We have eight fire fighters that go out on off-duty time to present these programs. These men are paid for their time. We demonstrate the stop, drop and roll procedure. In 1979 we presented our program to 3,602 people. Last year we made our own set of 35mm slides showing Sparky the fire dog telling a family what to do in the event of a fire. We have found that this is the best way to get our message to the children. We have had our fire prevention program in effect for over 20 years. We added Sparky to it about eight years ago. Local 1749 IAFF City of Butler purchased the outfit.
John R. Lydon, Chief, Manchester, N.H.: The Manchester Fire Department has operated a Fire Prevention Education program since the late 1950’s.
Along with the company inspection programs, our Junior Fire Department program has operated during this time in all public and parochial schools throughout the city, encompassing grades K-5. This year, the program will be expanded to include the sixth grade. This has proven to be one of our most successful programs as the message is delivered to the children in their most formative years, which in turn, we find, is brought home to the parents.
In addition, from 1964 through 1974, our Fire Prevention Bureau received awards for outstanding overall fire prevention programs in competition sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association. This nationwide contest focused on the scope and effectiveness of local programs.
During recent years, the Manchester Citizens’ Fire Prevention Committee was formed. This committee, made up of local business and civic leaders, works with department personnel and meets regularly to discuss and formulate new, innovative initiatives aimed at spreading the message of fire prevention.
In 1979, a new approach to fire prevention for the elderly was initiated. Through the cooperation of the Senior Service Employment Program, the American Association of Retired Persons, as well as the New Hampshire Council on Aging, we have five “Senior Fire Safety Advisors,” who are retired women. They visit all of the housing for the elderly, assisting in lectures, demonstrations and films. This program is quite successful.
In addition to our “Protection through Detection” program which intensified efforts to place smoke detectors in every dwelling in the city, wood stove safety seminars are being expanded. An increasing number of units are being installed because of our “unique” climate here.
In short, we feel that we have one of the finest on-going education programs, and our fire loss experience data seems to reflect this. We plan to continue our efforts in strengthening and expanding these activities to maintain this reputation.
B. J. McCarrel, Chief, Casper, Wy.: Our elementary school programs include presentations concerning playing with matches and how to report fires (first grade), escape planning and how to extinguish clothing fires (third grade), Junior Fire Marshal program with emphasis on home inspections (fifth grade), and in-class presentation on flammable liquids, home electrical problems and cooking fires (sixth grade).
Our adult education activities include one program each year to each service club, two programs annually to employees of the nursing homes, training baby sitters in a clinic, a fire prevention program to the parents of the Head Start group, and a danger house demonstration to senior high students in home economics and graphic art classes.
Bruce Waddell, Lt., Public Education Officer, White Plains, N.Y.: The White Plains Fire Department has recently increased its fire prevention education program by creating a public fire education office. A lieutenant, as public education officer, has been developing a program using the five step planning process. Programs initiated to date are the NFPA’s Learn Not to Burn program in all city schools, and a plan aimed at reducing grease fires in city housing projects. Future programs include voluntary private home inspections, smoke detector promotion, and citywide cleanup for fire prevention.
John Moore, Chief, Mt. Vernon, Washington: The Mount Vernon Fire Department has had an ongoing fire prevention program for many years. We have, during the past couple of years, been increasing the effectiveness of our program. Lt. Dale Taylor has charge of the program which includes newspaper articles, programs in the schools, public education presentations in service clubs, programs for businesses and institutions, and public seminars on timely subjects at no cost to the public.
These programs are carried out monthly throughout the year and dovetail very nicely with our inspection program. I believe very strongly in fire prevention, and I feel that our program is a good one.
Norman Maze, Chief, Havre, Mont.: We have implemented the Ban the Burn program in the local public schools. We have open house and public information at the fire station one evening a week. Our fire prevention officer gives lectures to civic clubs.
