Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Avery Walowinski has a turn at operating a fire hose with Hurley Fire Department Capt. Tom Conhartoski, as pre-kindergarten classmates from left, Grant Harris and Skylar Olkonen watch as they wait to have a turn. The HFD was at Hurley K-12 School on Thursday to introduce pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students to the firefighters and equipment along with some fire safety training as part of National Fire Prevention Month in October.
By TOM LAVENTURE
Hurley - Elementary students of Hurley K-12 School spent Thursday afternoon getting a first hand look at fire department equipment and learned about fire safety.
"This is just something we do for the community and kids and the school," said Hurley Fire Chief Mike Sejbl, noting that the department comes to the school annually in October, which is Fire Prevention Month. Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 3-9 for 2021.
"We come here every year and set our rigs up," Sejbl said. "We come in to educate the kids and it's the greatest thing."
The firefighters met with more than 200 students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. In half-hour shifts, the kids came out by grade and alternated stations to learn how the pumper truck works and control a fire hose, learned about firefighter gear, and saw demonstrations of the light tower, ladder truck, the "Jaws of Life" and other extraction equipment, along with materials and discussion regarding home fire safety.
"This is important, especially for the little kids," said Katie Brownell, a prekindergarten teacher, who said she was glad to see the HFD return after the 2020 event was canceled due to the pandemic. "This event is just to help the kids know the rules about the fire trucks, and what to do if a fire were to happen at their house, or in the classroom, and what we would do and what those steps would take."
It's an age-appropriate introduction to the fire department with pamphlets and materials that the department budgets for annually, Sejbl said. It's also an opportunity to talk to them about conducting fire safety in the home from smoke alarms and fire extinguishers to creating family escape routes in the event of a fire and practicing them with the parents.
"I would love to see the parents come next year," Sejbl said. "Because we ask the kids to take this stuff home with them and go through them with their parents. It's really basic stuff."
The extraction presentation has the dual purpose of encouraging kids to wear their safety belts, he said. The kids also get a kick out of seeing the spot lights that brighten up the night when on a late call.
The event is also a way to talk about the importance of maintaining a cohesive and well-trained volunteer fire department, Sejbl said. They do the same job as a full time fire department but are sacrificing their time and energy to support the community along with maintaining other jobs.
