Butler, Ohio, fire department buys tools to simulate real-life conditions

BUTLER TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency helped buy several fire safety teaching items the Butler Twp. Fire Department promises to share.

The township is replacing the old trailer they used to simulate house fire conditions and safety for public education projects. The new version features residential windows, vinyl siding and what look like typical rooms in a home, with a few unusual features.

It can also safely demonstrate mock emergencies, including a flaming pan, a bedroom door hot to the touch, rooms filled with smoke, a vibrating sound like a tornado approach, so fire safety educators can teach people how to react in a realistic setting.

"Kettering and Moraine have them," Capt. Mike Blakesly said. "We're the only ones in the northern part of Dayton that will have one, but part of the idea is that we'll share it. We have big plans for this."

The fire safety house cost about $49,789 and a portable tabletop "hazard house" simulator for classrooms was $19, 244. FEMA is funding 90 percent of the cost for both.

Blakesly said Huber Heights will be using the safety house and sharing their toys, too — the department just took delivery early this year of an animated dog and fire truck robot, Patches.

The remote controlled Patches appears to drive the Power Wheels-sized truck. Operators can hear and respond to people from a distance, making it seem the motorized Dalmatian is talking to children.

"Adults say, 'Isn't this cute' and encourage their kids to go up to it," Huber Heights Fire Marshal David Fickler said. "But they're listening too, so we're getting the kids and the parents. These type of aids get attention, plus, our society has become every visual. People respond better to something like this than to a firefighter telling them what to do."

Patches cost $9,500, paid for by a FEMA grant.

"Prevention is not the biggest part of any fire department's budget," Fickler said. "If Butler Twp. has that specialized piece and we have the robot and we share, it helps us all out."