News Second grade students visit fire station, learn about hoses, equipment

There is going to be a new favorite in future Fire Prevention Week events, when Vinton-Shellsburg second grade students visit the Vinton Fire Station.

After rehearsing with firefighters the proper way to escape a fire -- stay low, get near a window if possible, check with the back of your hand to make sure a door is not hot, have a meeting place away from your house and count to make sure everyone is there -- the students also saw a display of some of the tools and equipment firemen use. They saw the suits worn for winter underwater diving, the tools used to free people trapped in cars, and other devices that the firefighters use. 

Then the students went to the garage area and each took turns turning on and off the nozzle of a fire hose. With the help of firefighter Charles Garwood, the students felt the challenge of turning off and on the water.