Two years ago our homeschool group was talking about putting together an activity to teach children safety. I had volunteered for that activity and the Bethel library wondered if that was something that could be done at their location for anyone to come. After talking to the Bethel fire chief in regards to having them bring a fire truck for a demonstration, it was decided that it would have to be on a Saturday, for the firemen have jobs and are not available during the week except for emergencies. Saturdays were not good days for the library. Jeff, the chief, offered to let me have it at the fire house and have it as a community event, not just a homeschool event. Also, there was a lot more room there than at the library. Jeff said that he and his wife would help wherever they could and do fire safety for the children. We worked very well together and it turned out to be a really good, beautiful weather, day filled with lots of safety info. for the children (and adults), and was a good event to bring the community together. We had Smokey the Bear, 911, ambulance, fire trucks, state police, IDme, and Pennstar helicopter (which flew in for the accident victim). Here are a few pictures from 2009....
the victim....
This year the assistant fire chief, Mike, wondered if another safety day should be arranged. The day was scheduled for April 16th, with no rain date, for there are too many people that have to be scheduled for the day. This year we decided to still have the state police (a favorite), 911, and Smokey (who the kids love), but to have some different demonstrators, also. We decided to do lawn mower, and water safety and get the "smoke house", which is a trailer that you go in and they fill with fake smoke to teach children how to get out of a burning house safely. In the smoke house they also talk about what to do in a tornado and how to use an extinguisher. All the demonstrators did a great job and the children learned a lot of good stuff! Well, this Spring has been VERY rainy and the forecast for the 16th was....you guessed it!.... rain, wind, and not too warm temps. So, we had to give up the idea of being outside and arranged for everyone to be inside the fire house. Here are just a few pictures.....
911 and water safety (in background)
My pictures didn't get so great from inside, but here are some from the accident scene, which the firemen decided to do in spite of the rain...... we have a "dead" driver in car, an ejected victim from pickup on car hood, and a trapped driver of pickup still in drivers seat..
Rescue begins with Sara.....
Then Solomon, the texting driver of pickup......
I missed the extraction of Paul, the dead driver, but they all got hauled away in ambulances.....
Narrator Bob telling us about the accident and the dangers of texting while driving.....
A local fire company brought their ladder truck....if it had been a nice day, they would have allowed someone to climb it.....
We had a good day in spite of the rain. By the way, Jettas are good cars. They had a hard time "wrecking" it on friday, but on the flip side, they also had a very difficult time cutting the victim out on Sat..
A BIG thanks to everyone, especially Mike and Margaret! You did a great job! Thanks for all the cooperation and helping hands and thanks, Joe, for taping the whole thing!! Videos will be available to anyone who is interested. Let me know!
Until next time..........
