Fire Department brings prevention messages to Maricopa elementary students

What should you do if you’re standing too close to a campfire and your clothing ignites? Ask any Maricopa elementary school student, and they’ll tell you: “Stop, drop and roll.”

Fire Prevention Week messages like this one were presented at Legacy Traditional, Pima Butte, Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Elementary Schools this week by Deputy Fire Marshal Eddie Rodriguez and Firefighter/Paramedic Paul Neumann.

The Fire Department Maricopa team will visit Maricopa Elementary School after the fall break as well as some of the preschools in town. They will have talked to over 2,000 elementary students in grades K-3 when their tour is finished.

Neumann showed students a video narrated by Jiminy Cricket called “I’m No Fool with Fire.” The cricket talked about the history of fire and some of its uses – and dangers. Fire can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

Every family needs an exit plan the firefighters told students. Decide where you will meet outside, usually the driveway. Make sure smoke detectors are working, and, if they go off or you smell smoke, check your bedroom door to see if it’s hot. If there is lots of smoke, remember the “good air is always down low,” explained Neumann. Firefighters used a large piece of black cloth to demonstrate a smoke level and had students crawl low under it.

In order to show students how firefighters would look if they came to their house fire, Firefighter Mike Grant donned his turnout gear piece by piece while Neumann explained why each item was needed. When it came to the breathing mask, he noted, “It’s kind of like Darth Vader, isn’t it? This equipment helps us to fight fires.”

After the video and discussion students received Fire Prevention Week stickers and got to tour a fire truck, looking at hoses and into the many equipment compartments. Captain Jim Lairmore and his crew of firefighters, Grant, Chazz Dupree and Ryan Powell brought their truck and answered questions from the students.

“This is the very best thing about being a firefighter,” said Neumann. “This is the reward.”

Photos by Joyce Hollis