Members of the Mantua Township Fire Department presented at assemblies at both Centre City and J. Mason Tomlin elementary schools on Oct. 24 to teach students the importance of fire safety.
The presentations – held as part of Fire Prevention Month in October – focused specifically on cooking fire safety. The firefighters taught kids to recognize fire hazards, such as combustibles too close to a heat source, and the dangers of handling kitchen appliances without adult supervision.
” I always attempt to make the assembly as interactive as possible and ask the students what some hazards in the kitchen are as well,” said Captain Victor Torino, who set up the presentations. “Another topic we covered was the dangers of lithium-ion batteries. Most children were unaware of what the batteries were until I asked who had used an iPad or electronic device at home, in which every student raised their hand.”
The iPad is powered by lithium-ion batteries, and if they feel like they’re too hot to touch, Torino warned, they can become a fire and safety hazard when they get overheated.
Firefighters also talked about the importance of having a working smoke detector in the house, as well as an evacuation plan in case of an emergency.
“We covered how the fire department responds to all types of emergencies, and not just fires,” Torino explained. “We also discuss how much training we have to do in order to become a firefighter and all of the gear we wear. We cover how important our gear and equipment are and how it protects us.
“With that, we had firefighter (Ryan) Kanauss demonstrate the two-minute drill,” Torino noted. “I covered how the drill is one of the first things firefighters are taught how to do. The two-minute drill is putting on all fire gear and breathing off the SCBA air pack in under two minutes.
“The students all counted and cheered on firefighter Kanauss, and cheered for him when he completed the drill in one minute and 15 seconds.”
The assemblies concluded with an announcement of poster contest winners. The annual competitions focus on the fire prevention topic of the year and are judged by the firefighters themselves. The winners were one student from each class.
“The students were very engaged and very energetic and showed their full attention,” said Torino.
