WESTFIELD–Firefighters visited Munger Hill School Friday to teach students important lessons in fire safety as part of Fire Prevention Week in the state.
Westfield Fire Department’s Lead Educator and Firefighter Joe Manfredi presented several aspects of fire safety to a large group of students outside Munger Hill School, from smoke detectors to strategies for leaving a home during a fire. The efforts were part of the Student Awareness Fire Education (SAFE) Program and Fire Prevention Week through the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services (DFS).
Marlene LeBlanc, paraprofessional, and Nina King, teacher, stand with Westfield Firefighter Randy Quarles inside the bucket as they begin their ascent.
“The message is to bring fire safety home,” Eric Bishop, Deputy Chief and Fire Prevention Officer for Westfield Fire Department, said.
Among other topics during the program, Manfredi, also known as “Firefighter Joe” in the presentation, stressed the importance of having working smoke detectors. In addition, when those detectors go off, that there should be a plan in place of where to meet outside of the home and where it would be safe during a fire. Manfredi does all this while keeping students engaged and interacting with the presentation.
Marlene LeBlanc, paraprofessional, and Nina King, teacher, stand with Westfield Firefighter Randy Quarles inside the bucket near the top of their ascent.
And the firefighters may also take a faculty member or two from the school and send them high up into the “bucket” of the fire department’s tower truck. However, they are secure in the bucket.
According to Bishop, the message is delivered in an age-appropriate manner for students, so students are able to bring the information home and share it with parents.
Funding for the program is through the state’s SAFE Program and Bishop said that each elementary school is presented with the information.
