Getting a lesson in fire prevention
By Chris Simon

Photo by Chris Simon Innisfil Fire Service officer Mike Symes teachers some Kindergarten students about home fire hazards Friday. Fire service personnel have been teaching students about fire safety at most area schools for the last week.

Savannah Gulyas is a fire safety veteran.

The Grade 8 student has been doing emergency fire drills and seeing firefighters around Innisfil for quite a few years. However, her normal fire safety routine was interrupted a bit this year. While the school had completed two fire drills over the last month, last week's Fire Prevention Week has spawned an increase in safety knowledge in students across the town. During the week, Gulyas participated in the World's Largest School Fire Drill and entered a safety trailer, where students crawled out of a simulated house fire and learned about common hazards.

"It's really important," she said. "If there were ever a fire, we don't want to be panicking, we don't want to be all screaming around the school. We need to be orderly. As older kids, we should definitely be prepared to show the younger kids a good example."

The week is dedicated to improving knowledge, helping people learn how to escape dangerous situations quickly, and making the jobs of firefighters as easy as possible when they are called to an emergency, said Innisfil Fire Service prevention officer Mike Symes.

"Prevention Week is obviously to draw awareness to fire prevention," he said. "It's one of those things we don't always think about. The kids are learning kitchen safety, identifying the hazards, learning 911. Knowing that everybody is out of the building safely, prior to us getting on the scene is huge. It eliminates a lot of pressure, and lets us skip that step of (saving lives)."

The fire drill, which was created by the Public Fire Safety Council, even offered participation prizes. Randomly chosen, $1,000, $500 and $250 prizes will be distributed to schools. Winning schools will also receive free educational material from local fire departments. Over 3,300 schools - nearly 1.6 million children - participated in the fire drill over the last two years. Principal Jo-Ann White-McKenna says the week offers students valuable skills to avoid getting caught in hazards, and refreshed techniques school staff must utilize in case of fire.