Kids learned to stop, drop and roll among other safety tips from Union City firefighters at the 16th Street firehouse last week.
As part of Fire Prevention Month, firefighters are working hard to spread the message of "safety first" to students and city residents. A kindergarten class from Mother Seton Parochial School on New York Avenue visited their neighboring firehouse for a fire prevention clinic given by Fire Department Captain Mike Cranwell.
The class’ teacher, Elena Espinosa, brought the students during the morning so they could learn more about safety.
"It’s good to teach them at an early age," Espinosa said.
Michael Gonzalez, a five-year-old kindergartner, came along with his classmates to learn safety techniques like testing smoke detectors every month and to never ignore a fire alarm.
"It was fun to see the firefighters in person," Gonzalez said, smiling. "They save people in danger."
Gonzalez’ classmate and friend Christal Torres, 5, said she will talk to her family about fire prevention safety.
"We should help each other during a fire," Torres said.
The 33 students from Mother Seton school are just some of the many kids Fire Department Captain Joe Isola and his crew wanted to address through the course of Fire Prevention Week.
"Every year we do this. It’s tradition," Isola said. "We do one school per day."
Isola, who has been a career firefighter for more than 21 years, said it gives him a great feeling to see children respond well to his lectures and educational lessons.
"It’s very important they know what is going on," he said. "We want them to be more aware of their surroundings."
The walls of the firehouse are covered with posters from students from area elementary schools. The posters will stay up for several weeks, then firefighters will take them down and save them, according to Isola.
Firefighters, for the most part, tell students to make sure they have smoke detectors in their homes, to develop and practice a family escape plan, dial 911 to report a fire from a safe location, never play with matches and lighters, never overload electric outlets or extension cords, and avoid smoke inhalation.
Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack was on hand for the safety workshop. He was happy to see the students interact with the firefighters, something that brings the community closer together, he said.
"We want to create dialogues between the students and their parents," Stack said at the firehouse. "This is a great opportunity for children to learn."
As a result of the events of Sept. 11, Stack said he has expanded the city’s fire prevention program in order to reach out to as many people as possible.
"We are going to all the schools, and senior citizen homes to make sure everybody is safe," he said.
City Fire Inspector Louis Miranda is working alongside the mayor and the fire department’s leaders to spread the word of safety.
"I’m keeping busy. Since the World Trade Center, everybody is calling up to schedule lectures," Miranda said.
For more information on fire prevention, contact Union City’s Fire Prevention Bureau at 348-5644.