SUNDERLAND — Four-year-old Logan Williams perched on the driver’s seat of a fire engine parked in the Public Library’s parking lot Friday morning, gripping the truck’s massive steering wheel in a hands-on learning experience for fire safety month.
“At this age, exposure to firefighters and their equipment is important in case we ever have to come to their house. Teaching them not to be afraid is crucial,” said Sunderland Firefighter Meaghan Ahearn, looking on as more than a dozen smiling children, with their parents close by, clambered around the truck’s cab.
“We read books. Now they get to come out and look at the fire trucks,” Ahearn said.
Each year, a Sunderland firefighter brings a fire truck to the Public Library and reads aloud a public safety- themed book.
Later, the children made fire helmets from paper plates.
In the spirit of fire safety week, Ahearn said it’s important for families to discuss emergency plans, define a meeting area, and make sure children know to escape from the house if there’s ever a fire.
“You only have two or three minutes to get out in today’s fires. New materials burn so much quicker,” she continued.
This year’s safety theme issued by the National Fire Protection Association is “every second counts, plan two ways out.”
Other fire safety tips listed on the national organization’s website include practicing home fire safety drills twice a year (one at night, the other during the day), closing doors to prevent fire spread, and making sure the house is clearly marked to help responders find it.
Inside at the library’s front desk, Director Katherine Hand stressed the importance of fire safety, noting the library’s role in community education.
“We have tons of books about firefighters, both picture books and fiction,” Hand said. “It’s really important for children to have positive experiences with emergency personnel. We like to have Sunderland firefighters come in and meet the children, and have that interaction.”
You can reach Andy Castillo
at: acastillo@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 263
On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo