Fire safety beyond Smokey

Most of us think of Smokey Bear when we think of fire prevention, but prevention efforts existed long before Smokey Bear and today extend beyond fire prevention to include life safety education.

According to Old Town Fire Department fire and life safety educator Dan Bean, Ben Franklin started the first known volunteer fire department and served as its chief. Other founding fathers took up the cause of firefighting and fire prevention. However, fire prevention policies and procedures were only enacted and enforced sporadically. A major fire would occur, prevention steps would be taken for a while, and then they were allowed to lapse until the next fire disaster. It wasn’t until the Great Chicago Fire and the Great Peshtigo (Wis.) Fire of 1871 that long-term solutions began to be implemented.

Chicagoans were proud of their recovery process and began commemorating Oct. 9 as the anniversary of the fire. By 1920, the date was recognized nationally. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the day to be National Fire Prevention Day. Over the next few years, the day evolved into a week of activities designed to inform and educate to prevent fires. The National Archives and Records Administration’s Library Information Center shows that Fire Prevention Week is the longest running public health and safety observance on record.

Locally, our firefighters provide vital fire prevention and life safety education all year. Larger departments such as Bangor have dedicated personnel for education. Smaller departments such as Old Town, Orono and Veazie have personnel who work as educators and as firefighters. Representatives from all four municipalities agree with Old Town’s educator Bean that “the Greater Bangor area is very lucky to have the educators [and the departments that they have]. Most have fire prevention programs that are strong, working, and a great deal of them have a very minimal budget for supporting materials.”

They also agree with Capt. Pete Metcalf of the Veazie Fire Department that “schools and public safety departments absolutely need to work together to establish the educational base. The officers see the outcomes so we know what needs to be taught. Teachers and public safety personnel have a vested interest in child safety.” The programs in Greater Bangor are particularly strong. In fact, Capt. Pete Metcalf, his wife, Janet Metcalf, a teacher at the Asa C. Adams School in Orono, and Dennis Bean of the Orono Fire Department have presented models of fire prevention education at national conferences. The Metcalfs also have presented in Portugal as part of the Pine Tree Burn Foundation’s work with fire prevention education.

The departments in Greater Bangor use nationally prepared curricula such as “Learn Not To Burn” and “Risk Watch” from the National Fire Prevention Association, “Fire Prevention and Safety” from the American Red Cross, and “Fire Prevention” from Scholastic. The departments also use locally prepared lessons geared toward specific situations in their communities.

Jason “Jake” Johnson, public education officer for the Bangor Fire Department, said, “I like national curricula like the [“Learn Not to Burn”] program since it gives the educator the ability to teach age-appropriate lessons with key messages that are consistent with the best practices currently taught. I also like how the … program attempts to merge the lesson plan with other academic curricula [such as reading and math]. … That said, I also believe there is a time and place for local programs.”

He goes on to say that the ideal program “would be a program embraced by every level of the fire service … from the chief on down to the line firefighters. Teaching these life skills would not be taught by a single person, but rather by the entire department whenever the opportunity presented itself.” Capt. Metcalf points out that “the number of burns from fires have gone down, but the number of unintentional injuries have gone up. That’s why it’s more than fire prevention, it’s life safety, including natural disasters safety. The other very good thing about all of these programs, the commercial ones and the local ones, is that they are easily integrated with Maine Learning Results across the curriculum.”

The firefighters I spoke with commented on one particular challenge that they face: time. Time to schedule formal presentations, time to develop relationships with the students and teachers, time to plan and prepare lessons, and time to follow up with individual students who may need extra reassurance, guidance or exposure to a public safety officer. The officers also recognize that teachers struggle to find time to fit everything in a student’s day. They appreciate the effort that school administrators and classroom teachers make to work with them.

Finding current statistics to support the value of this joint venture between fire departments and schools has been difficult. Each firefighter spoke of the fact that only failures get recorded as statistics, not the successes.

Johnson said, “While we do not keep local statistics on the direct or indirect relationship to fire safety education efforts in the school, I do know that both statistical and anecdotal evidence from veteran firefighters has shown a reduction in fires, fire deaths and fire injuries in the city of Bangor over the past couple of decades.”

Dennis Bean of the Orono Fire Department said, “Oftentimes you don’t know, but when you do, it hits you hard that what we do saves lives. Several times I’ve pulled up to a house with a kitchen fire or a furnace smoking and found the family at a meeting spot. Later, when I talk to them, the kids eagerly tell me how they remembered the ‘How to Call 911’ lesson or the [‘Exit Drills in the Home’] lesson or that you don’t put water on a grease fire. The parents also thank us then for helping their kids know what to do.”

Rachel Kauffman, kindergarten teacher at the Old Town Elementary School, relates this story that illustrates the importance of having public safety officers develop relationships with students:

“A few years back, I had a kindergarten boy in my class with some special needs,” Kauffman said. “He was in a car accident one day on the way home from school. Knowing this boy as well as I did, I was very concerned at how he handled the whole experience – trauma, strangers, etc. When he returned to school, he was excited to share stories about the experience of the accident because it was Firefighter Dan that responded to the scene, [extricated] him from the car and transported him to the hospital. Dan’s familiar presence made all the difference for this child in a particularly traumatic situation.”

I was struck when talking separately to the four firefighters by how closely aligned their thoughts are on the topic. Obviously, they are professionals who keep current with the best practices in their field and strive to share their expertise with the community. Johnson, Metcalf and Dennis Bean all agree with Dan Bean that even though their mission is serious “most of the time, we laugh, have a good time and learn at the same time.”

This year’s fire prevention theme from the National Fire Prevention Association is “Plan and Practice Your Home Escape Plan.” Just like schools, families need to practice fire drills. Choose a date this month and practice your plan. Better yet, make your kids in charge of planning, executing and evaluating family fire drills. It’s a great opportunity for them to apply what they have learned in the classroom from your town’s public safety officers.

How has a public safety officer helped your student? E-mail me at conversationswithateacher@gmail.com.