Fire prevention day educates area children in Girardville
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SENTINEL PHOTO - Girardville fire chief Frank Zangari asks a question of an audience member while referring to a powerpoint during the Girardville Fire Department's Fire Prevention Day on October 7, 2018.
By Kaylee Lindenmuth
GIRARDVILLE – What do you do if there’s a fire? Where do you go? These were some of the questions asked by Girardville fire chief Frank Zangari Sunday evening to a crowd of area children at the Rangers firehouse on Ogden Street.
Zangari provided answers to those questions, through an interactive presentation which gave children various fire safety tips, and showed them what their rescuers, should they find themselves in a fire, would look like.
Zangari, with the help of a child in attendance, also demonstrated an escape ladder, setting it up on a makeshift window in a doorway.
Zangari also showed different smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and emphasized their importance, as well as the importance of having an escape plan and a meeting place in the case of a fire. Children were then asked to develop or outline their own.
A maze was created in a room of the firehouse connecting the meeting space to the engine room, and children were given an opportunity to practice making their way through and out of a room filled with artificial smoke.
Prior to the fire prevention presentation, outdoor activities were held.
Fire apparatus from both Girardville fire companies were displayed, as well as Girardville’s ambulance and police car.
The Girardville Police Department also offered finger printing for children, while Mid Penn Bank had face painting and prizes. The Schuylkill Elder Abuse Prevention Alliance also had a stand at the event.
In the lot across from the firehouse, an obstacle course was set up, in which children had to take a set of hoses from on end to another, extend a handline, and then put out a fire.
Attendees could also try on bunker gear, and a coloring station was set up inside the firehouse. Free hot dogs and refreshments were also served.
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