As they have done for nearly six decades, firefighters from Eastern Salisbury Fire Department and Western Salisbury Fire Department took their message of fire prevention and fire safety into schools in the township to help township youngsters understand how they can help themselves stay out of harm’s way from the ravages of fire.

Volunteers visited Harry S Truman Elementary School, Lehigh Christian Academy, Western Salisbury Elementary School, St. Thomas More School, the Swain School, Hope Church pre-school and Lehigh Valley Hospital Day Care classes during their annual Fire Prevention Week activities to help children be safe.

Using a live smoke detector as a prop, Western Salisbury Fire Department Chief Joshua Wells said every bedroom in a student’s home needs to have the protection of a smoke detector. He gave each student a “homework” assignment to check to see if their bedroom had a smoke detector. Those who report back to school that they do not have a smoke detector will be provided one by the fire department.

Wells cautioned against “playing with matches” and reviewed how to use the 911 call system to seek help for a fire.

Firefighters showed the students how to “stop-drop-and-roll” if their clothes should catch fire.

Firefighters transitioned from street clothes into full protective gear to demonstrate how they were still friends trying to come to the rescue, even though they might look intimidating in their “scary costumes.”

In their gear, the firefighters circulated on hands and knees among the classrooms, giving “high fives” to reinforce their friendly nature.

With the weather cooperating all week, firefighters were able to demonstrate the use of their engines and other firefighting gear, much to the delight of the students. Firefighters utilized hose lines and deck nozzles to show the tremendous amounts of water that can be directed onto a fire.

Wells climbed up 85 feet on the department’s aerial ladder to demonstrate rope skills as he rappelled upside down from atop the extended aerial ladder. That demonstration always brings exclamations of delight from the students.

Speaking for all the participating volunteers, Wells said, “We look forward to these programs all year. We have as much fun teaching kids to be fire safe as they do in having us visit each October.”