Jonathan Baumgart, fire captain and public education officer with Morden Fire and Rescue, recently shared his expertise with the grade one class of Morden Maple Leaf School.
The Fire Chief of the Day event, in coordination with Boston Pizza, is a fun and creative way to educate children on fire safety.
"We go to the local grade one classes, talk about home fire escape plans and the importance of creating a home fire escape plan and practice with their family. So, grade one students go home with a package that we hand out. They do the fire escape plan at home, conduct it with their family and practice it. In doing that, they get entered into a draw to become the Fire Chief of the Day.”
This year, 6-year-old Oakley Carson was selected as the Fire Chief for the Day and which gave her the opportunity to help Baumgart teach more students about fire safety.
“Oakley took over as fire chief [at Maple Leaf School]. We discussed a little bit about our fire escape plans, and the importance of them. Again, we did some gear reviews, went over me getting dressed in gear, and [we had] truck tours. Kids got a chance to hit targets with the fire hose, and from there we took Oakley from school to the fire hall.”
Oakley Carson said her favorite part of being Fire Chief of the Day was, “being in the fire truck”. Carson was then able to enjoy a personal tour of the fire hall, followed by a supper sponsored by Boston Pizza.
Baumgart says they took a break from the Fire Chief of the Day program for a season but brought it back due to noticing that home fire escape plans, and the practicing of them, has become less common due to busy lifestyles.
"[It’s] something that gets pushed to the back burner. [These] grade ones [are] sponges for information. They are excited when we arrive and talk about fire safety, and they're engaged, and we use that to take the message home.”
Baumgart says that these grade one students are fire safety advocates at home pushing the family to do fire escape plans.
“So that's kind of the basis behind the program and why we [do it] ... Going back to previous winners, I've heard that the families are still conducting those fire escape plans... So, the message is getting out there.”
Morden plans to continue with the Fire Chief for a Day program for years to come.
With files from Robyn Wiebe