Together, he and Wortz donned the heavy protective boots, pants, jacket, gloves and helmet of a firefighter. “This is heavy,” said Wortz as she bent down to crawl on the floor demonstrating how to safely get out of a burning building.
Murray and Wortz worked together to demonstrate how pairs of firefighters crawl through a building together with one leading the way and the other holding on to the boot directly in line behind. “That way we don’t get separated because sometimes it’s too smoky to see very well,” said Murray.
Wortz continued the safety lesson by demonstrating how to “stop, drop and roll” to smother out any fire on her clothing.
“Of course we put out fires and help people out of burning buildings. But we also go to accidents or when people just need help,” Murray told the young students.
He also gave students an assignment. “Where would you go if you had to get out of your house?” he asked. “Do you have a meeting place where you can find your mom and dad and brothers and sister?”
A few students raised their hands saying they would meet at the mailbox or a shed far from the home. Murray encouraged each of them to go home and talk with their parents about where they should meet in case of an emergency. “That way, everyone will know you are all safe,” he said.
Students learned about calling 9-1-1, how to check doorknobs to see if they were hot, and how to crawl out of a smoke-filled home to stay away from the dangerous smoke. He also reminded students to never go back into a burning home for any reason. “Let us go in. That’s what we do and we can do it a lot safer with all this equipment we have,” he said.
Although he didn’t drive a large fire truck to school, he showed students his chief’s truck filled with emergency equipment, but not the ladders and hoses of a large truck.
Murray left each student with their own plastic fire hat, a Halloween trick-or-treat bag, a firefighter badge sticker and some sticker books.