Lt. Byrne began the presentation with a video presentation to show us just how quickly a fire can start and spread to the point that it engulfs an average family room. The fire on the training video started by a single match dropped into a waste paper basket without any fire inducing agents. Within 2 minutes and 35 seconds the entire room was in flames. We were told to pay close attention to the recliner because it would ignite before any flames reached it and it did. The chemicals in the fabric along with the synthetic wood reached their ignition temperature and the chair burst into flames due to the heat in the room.
We received instruction about cooking fires, one of the top five cause of house fires. Warnings were given about the misuse of extension cords, over loading multiple outlets, and long term use utility cords.
A substitute for a wax candle is a new electric candle that looks like a wax candle. comes with fragrances but is battery operated.
Children were warned not to play with matches, a classic and still very important. Parents were encouraged to place matches, lighters and any other type of fire started in out of the way, hidden places.
Smoke detectors are still the number one method to warn us of fire in our homes. Instruction about the placement of the smoke detectors in a room or hallway, the care of smoke detectors and new smoke detectors on the market were shared during the presentation. Lt. Byrne informed us of a detector that a parent can record his or her voice with instruction along with the alarm noise.
After leaving the kitchen instruction area, we moved into the bedroom for further instruction. It was there we learned how to stay low to the floor when we smell smoke, touch the door with the back of our hand to detect if it's hot, if so don't open the door move to the window to get out. If the door isn't hot slowly open it to see if there is smoke or fire nearby, if the coast is clear proceed to the nearest exit and then to the meeting point. We practiced this before leaving the room.
Exit the room from the window.
Pictures of Firefighter Rob putting on gear.Following this time, the children were given a ride around the block in the fire truck by firefighter Andy. As the truck re-entered the station lot, all the bangs and whistles were sounded and the children were thrilled.
The final instruction for the day was a hands on demonstration of how to properly use a fire extinguisher and we each were allowed to practice this new skill.
Overall, we had a fantastic visit at the fire station. We all learned loads of new information and were reminded of many important things we often let slip. We are thankful for the community education program offered by the Beaufort fire department. The program depends on funding that is very low and may very soon be deleted due to lack of funds. Presently the department has a grant that allows them to purchase and give away smoke detectors to families that don't have one. The presentation we participated in is still available to the public as funding allows.
If you have fire extinguishers that are out dated they can be donated to the fire department for training and demonstrations such as we participated in. The department also accepts monetary donations as well as donations of new smoke detectors. Lt.. Byrne would like to get the word out about fire prevention to the general public. Please don't think you know everything there is to know about fire prevention, you'd be surprised about how much there is to know.
Yes, the date on the pictures is wrong.
