By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Through its public safety programs, the Niles City and Township Fire Departments are trying to prevent accidents before they happen.
By instilling the basics of fire and general life safety, the departments are hoping to build young children into safety-minded citizens.
On Tuesday, the team of Captain Murph (Capt. Don Wise of the Niles City Fire Department) and Pokey (Lt. Jack Frost of Niles City Fire Department) brought their safety promoting act to Northside Child Development Center. A handful of Niles City and Fire Departments also made the trip to help assist with the program.
Another player in the safety program is Flash, a mini-replica of one of the department's firetrucks, manned by Rory Iwaniuk of the Niles City Fire Department. The golf cart-size truck was created by the fire department and made possible through the donations of materials and money from many in the Niles community.
Scott Crouch, of the Niles City Fire Department, said the small vehicle, which would have cost about $20,000 to build, only cost the department $100 because of the community's generous donations.
With two weeks of public safety programs in the spring and four weeks in the fall, the departments are able to convey their message to Niles and Brandywine students three times each year.
For two weeks in the spring and fall, they put on school wide assemblies at each of the local elementary schools. For the additional two weeks of the fall program, the fire departments travel from school to school until they reach every kindergarten through sixth grade class in the two districts.
According to Niles City Fire Chief Larry Lamb, this repeat exposure can help transform their safety suggestions into reactionary behavior for the young students.
He said the main way to cut back on fire related injuries and deaths is through prevention efforts like the department's public safety programs.
Tuesday's program at Northside taught the children fire safety issues like the proper way to escape from a burning house, the need for a family meeting place outside the house and the importance of smoke detectors. They also touched on the basics like calling 9-1-1 and the stop, drop and roll routine.
In addition to fire safety, the departments also went over general life safety issues like riding a bicycle, encountering storms, swimming, strangers, drugs and fireworks.
Lamb said another aim of the program is to bring the message of safety into the homes of the children that they speak to.