Family Fire Preparedness

A Tour of the Fire House

The other evening, my nephew's Cub Scout den took a tour of one of the local fire houses.  The boy's got to see all the apparatus (apparati?) up close and see what the different types of equipment were used for.  The firefighters also told the boys what they should do during a fire in the home.  They learned that if the fire is blocking their escape from a second storey bedroom, they need to close their bedroom door, stay close to the floor, and start throwing toys or other things out the window... breaking it if needed.  The lieutenant told them that the first thing he does when they get to a fire is that he walks around the house looking for where the fire is, and if there are any people visible in windows that need rescuing.  He told the boys that if they throw stuff out the window, it will grab his attention and he'll know they are there.

Next, one of the firefighters donned all of his gear, including his air pack, and showed them what he would look like and how he would sound if he came through their house looking for them.  Some kids might be scared seeing this guy with the muffled voice calling for them from the smoke, and they sometimes hide from the firefighters.  By seeing and hearing him in a controlled environment, they learned that he would be a friend, nothing to be scared of, and that they need to yell out to him so he knows where they are in the house.

If you have young kids, you really ought to take them to the fire house for a tour.  It doesn't need to be an organized group outing, simply call your local one and ask to bring your kids down.  It can be an invaluable prep for your family.


I've Been Offline

I haven't posted in the past couple days.  If you read my Veterans' Day post, you learned about my 99 year old Uncle Bill.  Well, he passed away Thursday afternoon while holding the hand of his wife of 68 years.  We visited him last Saturday and he was sharp as a tack, but tired and fading.  The last thing he ate was a couple of sardines from their emergency food stash... see, it runs in the family.  RIP Uncle Bill.