Gordon Fire Brigade has teamed up with the local primary school to promote fire safety and awareness in the community.
Gordon Primary School has around 100 students from grades Prep to 6. Principal Russell Cowan has welcomed the opportunity to work with the brigade to promote and encourage the students to understand the fire risks in their local area.
Earlier this year, Diane Lawson, Community Safety Coordinator at Gordon Fire Brigade, met with the students at the school and introduced the Fire Danger Rating sign to be kept and displayed at the school.
Diane explained that by using the CFA website, students will look up the Fire Danger Rating and amend their own Fire Danger Rating sign accordingly, which is displayed in the classroom. The sign will be rotated throughout the classrooms during the year so all students learn the skills.
“This practice instils the importance of not only knowing the fire danger ratings and their meanings, but also learning where to get the information from. This is a key skill that will benefit the students and their families in the long term,” Diane said.
As part of the Fire Safe Kids program, Diane returned to the school recently and the students took part in a full school evacuation exercise and fire safe learning.
The children were treated to a look at the fire truck and its specialist equipment and firefighting clothing, as well as learning the importance of 'stop, drop and roll', safe meeting places for the family and how to call for help using 000.
All families were provided with information on Fire Danger Ratings together with home safety information, a Can I or Can’t I? flyer and some Fire Safe Kids merchandise.
“In small communities like ours, it's great to build good relationships between the brigade and community groups and it is a vital part of working together for the common goal of fire safety for everyone,” said Diane.
Author: Irene Keating