By Cristina Bautista
Portland Press Herald (Maine)
Copyright 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
For many parents, fire safety education brings back memories of the instructions, “Stop, drop and roll.”
But fire departments across the state have expanded their teaching methods, supplementing pamphlets and drills with robots and inventive educational tools.
In the 1970s and ‘80s, fire departments were teaching Learn Not to Burn fire safety methods, said South Portland Firefighter Tom Blake.
“Through the advent of smoke detectors, the numbers of children actually dying from fires lowered significantly,” he said. “Stop, drop and roll is fun, but not really valuable anymore.”
The South Portland Fire Department instead shifted toward using more interactive methods, such as buying a $10,000 “hazard house,” a miniature house that can fill up with smoke to teach children how to minimize smoke inhalation, among other things.
The Saco Fire Department co-owns a hazard house with the Biddeford Fire Department. They teach children to always have home evacuation plans, said Saco Deputy Fire Chief John Duross.
Saco firefighters, like those in many other departments, also conduct classroom lessons at local schools and daycare centers and use props to engage the children, Duross said.
“We have a miniature set of fire protective clothing that looks just like the stuff that our firefighters wear,” he said. “We’ve gone out and bought tons of red plastic fire hats as well.”
Dressing up isn’t only left to the children, however. One firefighter at the Brunswick Fire Department commemorates the holidays by dressing up in a snowman or elf costume to read a fire safety poem modeled after, " `Twas the Night Before Christmas,’ ” said Jeff Emerson, the deputy chief of fire prevention.
“We all get a great big kick out of that,” Emerson said. “We just try to hit the three different types of learning: visual, hearing and doing.”
The Westbrook Fire Department teaches safety in a high-tech way. “Sparky Marky,” a robotic Dalmatian purchased last year through a $10,000 grant, is just starting to be used in local schools, to great reviews, said Westbrook Deputy Fire Chief Thaddeus Soltys II.
At nearly 3 feet tall, the fire dog is a life-size companion that can be steered and answer questions asked by children.
“Because we can talk through it, each kid can actually ask questions and receive individualized advice from Sparky,” Soltys said. “It’s been a huge success elsewhere, so we’re looking to recreate that in Westbrook.”
At the Gorham Fire Department, fire safety is folded into celebrations, such as the several birthday parties the department hosts each month, said Chief Robert Lefebvre. Firefighters lead fire safety presentations and give the children a tour of the station.
“Parents bring the cake and stuff, and the kid celebrating the birthday gets their choice of fire truck to give them a ride home,” Lefebvre said. “It’s just a lot of fun.”