BY JIM CARROLL
In fire prevention, a proactive attitude is essential. Getting out the fire safety message before the fire happens is the key to success, especially with kids. To that end, the Grand Traverse (MI) Fire Department has created an obstacle course designed to teach children a variety of vital fire safety messages. The course can be set up indoors or outdoors and used year-round if an indoor area is available. In a typical gymnasium, it would extend from one basketball hoop to the other. If the course involves children spraying water, it should be set up outdoors.
For safety and effectiveness, a minimum of three firefighters are needed to operate the course. One member starts and oversees the course; the other two follow and assist each child along the way to ensure safety. Fewer firefighters are needed if a teacher or daycare provider can assist. In an outdoor course in which children are allowed to spray water, an engine and an additional firefighter are needed. Two children run through the course at the same time; one side of the course is colored white and the other is colored red.
 Photo by author. |
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For participants, our department purchased eight sets of child-size turnout gear from a fire pump manufacturer in a variety of sizes. Each set includes boots, gloves, pants, coats, and helmets.
A smoke detector sounds, starting the competition, and the children participating roll out of two donated rollaway beds.
They then learn to “crawl low under smoke.” For this, we use two large corrugated drain pipes; a half sheet of plywood painted to resemble billowing smoke is attached to the front of each pipe. The plywood sheets are joined at the middle to stabilize the structure as the children go through it.
After this, the children proceed to two casement windows with latches, which teach them to find a second way out of every room. The kids must crawl through these windows; an old gym mat is placed below the windows to help prevent injury when the kids emerge on the other side.
At the next obstacle, each participant must drag a 50-foot hoseline toward a miniature house with painted “flames” showing in the windows. At a certain point, they must extinguish the “flames.” When the course is set up outdoors, the hoseline is connected to a pumper and charged. When it is indoors, the lines are not charged, and the participants approach the “flames” and “push” the fire “out.”
In the final part in our course, a couple of mailboxes with switches inside them mounted at regular height represent a “safe meeting place.” The switches independently operate corresponding sides of a light bar. The first participant to arrive and turn on one of the lights is the winner. Also, inside each mailbox is a sticker or plastic badge for each participant.
More components are planned for this course as new ideas come up and resources become available. A heated door system is under development to teach the children to check a door before opening it. We’re also making an elevated window to teach older children how to hang and drop from it instead of nose-diving through. Future plans include connecting plumbing to the window frame to eliminate the trip hazard of excess hose. Cones can be added to create a serpentine course at any point along the way.
We transport the course in a 16-foot covered trailer. Handouts and pamphlets are stored in a file cabinet; all gear is hung on the wall.
The course has been requested extensively throughout the area and is used at local block parties, birthday parties, summer safety programs, events for the mentally and physically challenged, and church socials. It can be used throughout the year, is relatively easy to set up, and is fun to use. For the children, the best part is seeing firefighters run the course in full turnout gear.
JIM CARROLL is a 10-year veteran of the fire service and a fire prevention education officer and an assistant station chief for the Grand Traverse (MI) Fire Department.
