Blitzing schools with safety

As fast as lightning, Kannapolis Fire Department personnel descended on the students in Kannapolis City Schools’ elementary schools during the past two weeks for the first ever Fire Blitz.
Fire Blitz was created to give children a clear, concise lesson on one specific safety topic. This year, the Fire Blitz theme was “Crawl Low under Smoke.”
“We had a ball with the students,” said Battalion Chief David Winecoff. “I’m really glad I was able to be a part of this brand new program. The children listened well, had great questions and comments and really practiced what we taught them.”
During the lesson, children learned the dangers of smoke, its harmful effects on the body and the way to escape it as quickly as possible.
Fire personnel used bath towels donated by Super Target to simulate smoke so that the children could put what they learned into practice.
“Why use a towel?’” many children asked.
“We chose to use a towel because we wanted it to be something that everyone had readily available in their homes,” Maria Bostian, the Fire Department’s public safety educator, said. “We wanted to make the lessons fun and easy to duplicate.
“Safety for everyone is our primary goal. We cannot meet everyone in Kannapolis, but, hopefully, with the lesson and materials we provided, the children were able to go home and teach others in their communities.
“Hopefully, many adults have practiced this rule over the past several weeks as well.”
Fire Department Inspector Shane Pethel noted that 1,673 students have participated in the lessons at four elementary schools.
“We have one more school to go,” Pethel said. “We are so pleased to have 100 percent participation from the (Kannapolis City Schools) elementary schools. (Kannapolis City Schools) is a big supporter of our safety and injury prevention efforts and makes safety a priority for their students.”
Feeling blue that you missed out? The Fire Department is hoping to make Fire Blitz an annual event.
If you want to participate or have some other great ideas, Fire Department officials encourage you to call the Risk Reduction office at 704-920-4261 for more information.