Teaching children how to cope with fire

April 29, 2005

BOB MARTINSON/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - Firefighter Robin Hoage led a group of children into the Palmer Fire Department's new 32-foot trailer Thursday morning, but most of them were not expecting to have to run from a fire.

The kids sat down in the Palmer Fire Department's newest acquisition, which is decked out like a home and complete with burning fireplace, to listen to a nine-minute cartoon teaching fire safety. After the cartoon ended, the children were taken into the back bedroom. A fire alarm sounded and smoke rolled out from a wall near the ceiling.

The children bolted for the nearest exit before they could hear the spiel Hoage was about to deliver on how to deal with the situation. This group apparently already knew the drill.

Palmer Fire Captain Todd Russell orchestrated the event from a hidden control room, making sure the smoke, alarm and a hot door would resemble a real-life fire situation. The trailer, an idea of Palmer Fire Chief Dan Contini, is new to the Palmer Fire Department and funded by a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant.

Michael J. Kaucic, from the next group of kids to tour, was asked to lay on a bed as the alarm went off and smoke appeared. He rolled off the bed, continued to roll and then crawled across the floor to feel heat emanating from a door.

Hoage told the children to take a rolled-up towel or coat or anything to push against the gap at the bottom of the door, to keep smoke from overcoming them while they found the nearest escape route.

Later, when asked what he learned from the tour, Michael said, "I learned to stop, drop and roll."

Another youngster, Cody Dennis, said, "I learned that you should always know at least two different ways to get out."

The new trailer will be performing for more kids today at Sherrod Elementary in Palmer. After that, it will reside in between tours at the Palmer Fire Department's training center near the Alaska Job Corps center.

Contact Bob Martinson at 352-2269, or bob.martinson@

frontiersman.com.