News : Students visit the Vinton Fire Department

Josh Geiger talks to students of Tilford Elementary about Fire Safety and how to respond when there is smoke in the room

Dozens of Tilford students continued the observation of Fire Prevention Week with the annual tour of the fire station this week.

Several firefighters helped with the event. Tours were given of the different aspects of firefighting. The firemen gave some safety lessons, telling the children why not to return inside a burning house to save a pet, how to stay below the smoke in a fire, and offering a demonstration of smoke in a room. The department demonstrated how firefighters enter a house to rescue victims from fire and how they look with all of their protective gear on so that they wouldn't be afraid.

Josh Geiger taught kids about how smoke acts in a room and again how to stay below the smoke. This is always interesting to see how the kids will react to the "smoke." Sometimes they panic but showing them smoke and teaching them about the behavior of the smoke as it's in the room seems to remove a little of the fear, which is what the department wants to do, to keep them from panicking if they are ever in the situation. Teaching the children to stay low and to make noise if they cannot get out of the building is also key.

Also discussed in the class is how to get out as soon as they detect a fire, and Geiger asked them for ways that they can get out of their room if they are trapped inside. A second story ladder was suggested for the children's rooms, but along with that was making sure they know how to open the window and how to place the ladder.

The trip to the station also included an up close look at the fire truck and all of the equipment on the truck. Some of the students took turns spraying water from one of the fire hoses, but rain changed plans for some of the students.

As always, the Vinton Fire Department pulled out all the stops for the children this week and made their visits informative for each of the children. Kudos to the department!

The activities continued into Thursday night with Operation E.D.I.T.H. Don't forget to attend the VFD breakfast on Sunday. Funds will be used to save up for a new truck in the future. Here are the DETAILS.

Photos of the visit can be seen HERE.