Elementary school students across Coon Rapids are getting some important lessons from the Coon Rapids Fire Department this week.
On Tuesday, students at Eisenhower Elementary got a special visit from Sparky the Fire Dog along with firefighters for Fire Prevention Week. This year's theme is "Fire won't wait. Plan your escape."
“That's why you need to practice your escape plan and get efficient at it so you can get out of your house in two minutes,” Fire Marshal, Todd Williams told students. “That's the key, get out of your house in under two minutes."
This was the first time firefighters have been back in the schools since the COVID-19 pandemic. Student volunteers got to put parts of the escape plan into practice through a variety of scenarios. Eisenhower school principal, Lillian DeRung appreciates the lessons students learned from the firefighters.
"I really think the modeling, bringing in equipment like a door, window, things like that, for kids to actually see and just really kind of go through experience and have it be modeled for them is really effective," DeRung said.
This week the firefighters will take their fire prevention message to every elementary school in the city. They do about six safety presentations per day. The escape plan ends, after getting to a designated meeting spot, outside the home.
"So we like to have everybody go to their meeting spot which is a fire hydrant, a tree or a mailbox... something that does not move," Williams said.
It’s an important lifesaving message for students to bring home.