HELENA - This week marks Fire Prevention Week, and local elementary students are getting hands-on learning with our firefighters to keep themselves and their families safe.
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“The hands-on is the greatest thing they can probably do,” Wayne Noem with East Valley Fire says.
Students at Warren Elementary School were visited by the East Valley Volunteer Fire Department and got to tour the truck.
This visit is something that hit close to home for teacher Alinon Arpin.
“Volunteer fire departments are, I think, the greatest American heroes,” Arpin says. “They saved my house from burning down when I was five years old, and they have been there for me my whole life and continue to be here when we need them, and are here today.”
Here, giving students a memorable experience, like putting on full fire gear.
Fifth grader Norah Allen says, “I liked putting on the clothing because it is kind of nice to see if you would want to be a firefighter.”
Over at the Helena Fire Department, second graders got to see just that by crawling through smoke created by a smoke machine and hopping in the fire truck.
“It is like there was a real fire, and that is what we are supposed to do,” second grader James Wahl-Ramirez says.
They also got to stop, drop, and roll, and even went home with very important homework. “To make up an escape plan and a family meeting place,” says second grader Charlotte Goodson.
It is an important event that has lasted for decades and is just as important for the firefighters as it is for students.
“It is great not only for the students of Helena but great for all the employees and firefighters here to be able to pass along some knowledge, get the kids while they are young, and get the ideas in their head to be safe," Helena Fire Department Deputy Fire Marshal Kurt Sheehan said.
