Safety Town presents fire safety

By Kathryn Menue

Editor

BELVIDERE – On Thursday, June 11, the Flora Grange Safety Town continued at the Boone County Fairgrounds with its third day of safety tips for children.

On Tuesday, June 9, the highlight of the day was weather safety and Wednesday, June 10 brought the helpful tips of bike safety.

On Thursday, the Boone County Fire Department District #2 headed out to the fairgrounds with two fire and rescue fire trucks to show kids about fire safety.

Nearly 50 children attended the fire safety event, breaking into groups of four take a tour around the outside of each fire truck.

The tour began with an overview of fire safety including family members meeting at a certain spot if they get separated in a fire, rescue procedures, and the number one rule for if someone is ever on fire: stop, drop, and roll.

The tours proceeded around the trucks as the firefighters showed the curious youngsters first aid equipment, fire extinguishers, and all the tools that walled the linings of each truck.

Battalion Chief Dovenmuehle indicated that the new tools the fire department buys in order to successfully fulfill their duties during a fire are all paid with the money from the donut sales at the fairgrounds each year.

One of the bigger purchases the fire department district #2 made last year was a new ladder fire truck that cost $560,000.

The tour also included a special demonstration with the oxygen tank and safety mask the firefighters wear in smoky homes and buildings. Officer Bullard received a load of laughs with his plugged nose impression for the kids, explaining that the firefighters will often sound muffled when they have the protective masks covering their faces.

Officer Bullard told the children that if they should ever be in a fire, “Call out [to the firefighters]. Don’t fear the firefighters. I know that they can look scary with the masks on, but they are there to help you.”

After the demonstrations, a whistle would sound across the fairground fields alerting the children that the next group of inquisitive children got to explore the intricacies both inside and outside of each fire truck.

With the change in the children’s groups, came the change in teachers, where a new firefighter would step up to teach the next set of children all about fire safety and the equipment used during fire emergencies.

Thus concluded another day of Safety Town where Officer Swisher of the Boone County Fire Department District #2 put it in to perspective that fire safety, along with every other safety procedure Safety Town presents, is “good for the kids.”