By Cyndi Goodrich

Moapa Valley Progress

Grant Bowler Elementary student, Gracie Leavitt takes the pilot seat of Mercy Air during Fire Safety Day at Station 73 in Logandale. Photo by Cyndi Goodrich.

Local volunteer firefighters put on a Fire Safety Day for Grant M. Bowler Elementary students on Friday, October 21. Students from grades K-3 were invited to walk over to Station 73 to learn skills and drills for Fire Prevention.

This years’ theme is Protect Your Family From Fire. There were eight different stations for the kids to visit. Children were asked to make a fire escape route with their family for their home. Volunteers taught the Bowler students E.D.I.T.H. or Exit Drills In The Home. All the students had different scenarios from the drills they were taught and had to find the best way to escape from the mock bedroom.

Other volunteers taught kids how to call 9-1-1 and what you need to know when you call. They were shown important tools firefighters use, the importance of crawling under smoke and to Stop, Drop and Roll. Volunteer Kyle dressed up in full gear weighing nearly 75 pounds to let the children be familiar with the appearance of a firefighter.

A favorite station for the kids was a visit from the Forest Service. Ray Johnson and Smokey the Bear review with the kids the procedures for camp fires and safety tips for taking care of them.

“The students are listening,” said Station 73 Chief Tim DeBerardinis. “It’s great to hear the older kids know the answers. They remember things taught from previous years so it shows they are learning from what we are doing here.”

Mercy Air was invited too and brought a helicopter for the children climb inside. “Letting the children know about everything that could happen in an emergency lets them be more comfortable when something happens,” DeBeradinis said.