Gary Fire Department officers Sherron McMillian, Hubert Bledsoe, Nicholas Gniadek, Chief Inspector Calvin Bankhead, GLC’s Ben Clement, Fire Chief Paul Bradley, GLC’s Era Twyman and Edith Christmas
Gary Literacy Coalition donates "Fire Trucks" for Fire Prevention Week
Contributed By:The 411 News
A gift of books to teach young children about their community partners
Taking part in National Fire Prevention Week, October 8-14, the Gary Literacy Coalition donated books to the Gary Fire Department as a way to help teach young children about their community partners.
Seventy-five copies of “Fire Trucks,” a book for pre-school to 1st grade students describes the pieces of equipment on fire trucks and how they are beneficial in fighting fires.
“It gets the children engaged in what firemen do, especially during Fire Prevention Week, when the department makes visits to schools,” said GLC Executive Era Twyman. A former teacher in the Gary school district, Twyman remembers how her students were excited about fire drills, assemblies, and tours of the fire trucks.
During visits to schools, firemen will talk about fire safety and fire prevention, and will give the books to children to take home.
Gary Fire Chief Paul Bradley and department officers accepted the book donation.
For several reasons, Chief Bradley said young children are more often impacted by house fires.
When children have accidentally caused a fire, realizing they did something wrong, they’ll run and hide out of fear, instead of going to tell an adult, the chief said. “That’s why it’s important for homes to have smoke detectors.”
The department can install up to 3 smoke detectors, at no charge to Gary residents. The detectors are donated by the American Red Cross to the Gary Fire Department. “If your detectors are outdated, we’ll even bring new ones,” the chief said. “All a resident has to do is call and set up an appointment. We give out literature on the smoke detector and help residents develop a safety plan on how to exit their building.”
Chief Bradley said firemen arriving in bulky suits also frighten children. “We wear those suits on our school visits. And we tell them – when you see us, don’t be afraid.”
The chief said the department’s service is for smoke detectors only. “We don’t give out detectors for carbon monoxide.”
Story Posted:10/13/2017
|
