TREMONT — Members of the Tremont Volunteer Fire Department visited Tremont Consolidated School last week to deliver an interactive lesson on fire safety to local elementary students, Mount Desert Islander reported.
On Oct. 22, Tremont Volunteer Firefighter Lieutenant Bill Weir addressed a classroom of kindergarten and first-grade students to demonstrate the proper technique for the stop, drop, and roll maneuver. Weir instructed the children on how to execute the safety drill and had individual students step forward to practice the movement firsthand. As the children took turns trying the drill, Weir guided them to recite the phrase aloud alongside their practice.
Following the opening instruction, the classroom was divided into smaller working groups, with two groups remaining indoors while a third group gathered outside near the department's fire truck.
Inside the facility, firefighters Corey Walker and Hollie Walker presented a complete set of firefighting gear for the students to inspect. Corey Walker explained to Mount Desert Islander that visits like these help children master fundamental steps to take during a house fire, particularly if their parents become incapacitated in an emergency. He noted that demonstrating the equipment in a familiar setting helps youngsters understand that an individual wearing heavy turnout gear and respiratory equipment is simply a person there to provide aid.
To demonstrate this, Corey Walker fully put on his protective equipment, including his air pack and respirator mask. Under the guidance of Hollie Walker, students were permitted to try on firefighter boots and pants. Although the heavy turnout gear was significantly oversized for the young students, the hands-on activity allowed them to examine the equipment up close and ask questions directly to the responding personnel.
Outdoors, Lieutenant Alan Feuer and Fire Chief Keith Higgins provided students with a guided tour around the fire truck. The officers asked the children to identify various tools mounted on the vehicle. During the walk-around, Feuer highlighted a large piece of equipment on the truck. After students offered preliminary guesses, one child correctly identified the apparatus as a large ventilation fan used by firefighters for clearing smoke from structures.
Feuer also unreeled a large fire hose equipped with a nozzle and handle, allowing individual students to operate the valve to turn the water flow on and off.
Fire departments throughout Mount Desert Island routinely participate in educational outreach by hosting open houses and visiting local academic institutions. These recurring visits aim to ensure that area children are familiar with emergency personnel and understand basic safety protocols before an actual emergency occurs.
