McALESTER, Okla. -- First responders from the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, here, and the McAlester Fire Department teamed up with the Oklahoma Forestry Service to bring potentially lifesaving fire safety messages to children at Frink-Chambers School, Oct. 18.
More than 300 students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade participated in the Fire Prevention Week assembly. Between Oct. 10-28, MCAAP Fire and Emergency Services has reached an estimated 5,000 children at 20 schools in Pittsburg County.
The program kicked off with a puppet dancing across a set, fabricated as the MCAAP Station, while singing the ditty, "Stop, Drop and Roll." The song reminds children of what to do if someone is on fire.
Much of the information was delivered as a conversation between Cody, a puppet bear, peering through the window of the fabricated set, and Chris Morris from MCAAP's Fire and Emergency Services. It covered fire safety topics, such as forest fires, fire alarms and fire extinguishers, how to cool burns, and more
The children also observed a member of the McAlester Fire Department donning the protective gear that is typically worn to fight fires.
Even the pre- and post-program music -- George Strait's "The Fireman", Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" and "Fire" by the Ohio Players -- provided a spark for the fire safety messages.
At the conclusion of the nearly 35-minute assembly, the children filed past Smokey the Bear and Sparky for a quick hug or high-five before being escorted outside for an up-close look at a fire truck brought by the McAlester Fire Department.
MCAAP has been actively involved in fire safety education in the local schools for about the last 35 years, said Morris.
"We've been doing fire prevention programs for many years and have been working with the Oklahoma Forestry Service since the 1980s and the McAlester Fire Department for the past 10 years," he said.
"We enjoy going out to area schools to teach fire safety to the kids. We're already looking forward to and planning our program for next year."
Frink-Chambers School principal, Scott Burke, said the students get a lot out of it.
"Our kids look forward to seeing Smokey the Bear and the puppet show," he said. "It reemphasizes fire safety awareness and then they go home and talk to their parents about it. It really sticks with them."
More important, it has also saved lives.
"We've had five documented cases where children who attended these assemblies had fires at their homes and the fire safety information we shared with them helped to save their families," said Don Capps, the former MCAAP fire chief who retired in August 2013.
MCAAP is one of 14 installations of the Joint Munitions Command and one of 23 organic industrial base facilities under the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
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