Photos: Students Get a Lesson in Fire Safety

Westhampton Beach Elementary School students got a lesson in fire safety last week as volunteers from the Westhampton Beach Fire Department were on hand at the school to provide presentations and hands-on safety training.

During the event, 5th graders met with Second Assistant Chief Bo Overton, who showed them a brief video and then answered the students’ fire safety questions and kindergarten through 4th grade students got pointers on how to safely get out of a fire situation.

All students had the opportunity to practice the stop, drop and roll technique in a training smoke room and also learned how to safely evacuate a building through a window.

Some of the points that were discussed by firefighters were:

• Be sure to have the proper amount of smoke detectors in your house (usually at least one per floor).
• Test your smoke detectors weekly and replace the batteries twice a year.
• In case of a fire stay low to avoid the poisonous smoke and get out immediately. Feel a closed door for heat and do not open it if it is hot. If necessary use another door or a window to exit the room.
• All families should have an exit plan in place and should designate a safe meeting place outside. No one should ever go back inside during a fire and everyone should stay at the designated meeting place until all family members are accounted for.
• As soon as they are old enough children should learn their address and telephone number so that they will be able to dial 911 and summon help in case of an emergency.
• Only dial 911 for real emergencies.