Junior Infants learn about Fire Safety

Fire Safety

Members of Schull Fire Brigade paid a visit to junior infants in April to discuss fire safety and explain the work that they do.  Here are some of the fire safety tips they gave us:

• Every home should have a working smoke alarm.
• Never leave a phone to charge on an upholstered surface i.e. bed or cushion as it gets quite hot over time and may start a fire.
• Always use a spark guard in front of a fire.
• Plan an escape route from the home in the event of a fire.
• Agree on a safe place to assemble outside the home in the event of a fire.

The fire brigade also demonstrated some of the equipment they use when on duty, including hoses, an elephant’s foot for sucking up water and the jaws of life for cutting people out of cars when necessary.  Finally, they told us how to recognize a fire hydrant on the street.  It has a metal cover with the letters FH on it and is supposed to be painted yellow!  They showed us where the fire hydrant is located in the school yard and after connecting a hose to it, they allowed us to spray the water!  This was very enjoyable. We were very grateful to the members of Schull Fire Brigade for giving up their valuable time to talk to us about their work.   Míle Buíochas!

Helmets are worn to protect the head from falling objects.

This balaclava is worn inside the helmet.

We tried out the helmets for size.

This is just one of the many hoses on the fire engine.

This is the jaws of life, which is used to free people trapped in cars.

The oxygen tank and mask helps the firemen to breathe in a smoke-filled building.

We enjoyed watching the firemen demonstrate their equipment.

The fireman connected a hose to the fire hydrant for us.

The hose was very powerful!

They allowed us to spray the water!

In the classroom, we explored the work of the fire brigade by setting up our own fire station for role play and also making fire engines at the creative table.  Have a look at us in action…..

Our own fire crew put out fires too!

We used a hose for this job!

The creative table at work!

We used egg boxes, matchsticks, lollipop sticks and masking tape to assemble our own fire engines.

Milk carton lids were used as wheels, lights and sirens.

Toilet roll inserts also made good hoses!

Busy at work.

Adding the paint.

The masking tape is great for sticking and can be painted over at the end.

The ladders were tricky to assemble but turned out well.

A completed engine!

Another finished piece.

Our fire engines looked just as good as the real thing!