Fire safety day at the market

When you stop by the Clarence Hollow Farmer’s Market this weekend don’t be alarmed when you see a fire truck in the lot. There is no fire.

The Clarence Volunteer Fire Department is having a “Fire Safety Day” on Saturday July 21. Commissioner Ken Wells will be bringing the department’s ladder truck along with several other pieces of equipment to the market.

“We’re looking to go in a more educational direction,” said market manager, Cheryl Anthony. “We think it’s important that people understand what they do.”

A tent will also be set up where parents and children can receive informational pamphlets. The children can also have their very own firefighter hat.

Wells said him and a few other members of the department will be teaching children, and even adults, to stop, drop and roll, as many of us have heard before. Also, he’s going to show how a fire extinguisher works, and tell families what to do when there is an actual fire in their home.

“I try to tell families that it’s very important to find a central point where the family should meet at if something were to happen,” said Wells.

He also added that parents should run regular drills to teach the family the quickest way out of the building, just in case.

Another interesting activity, depending on the weather, will be to see one of the firefighters in their gear. Wells said that one of the reasons they like to do this is to show kids what the firefighters will look like if they ever need to come into their home. He often finds that younger children may be scared of the firefighters “because they look like monsters to them”. Hopefully, this activity will keep children from fearing the firefighters in case of an emergency.

The main and most important thing, Wells believes, for a family to do when there is the possibility of a fire is to “get out of the house and call 911.” He said the worst thing somebody could possibly do is to go back in the house to get someone because there is a good chance that person is already out.

Wells and other members of the fire department also like to visit the schools throughout the year to give similar demonstrations.

“We also like to expose to the kids what firefighting is really like,” he said.

The ladder truck will be displaying the American Flag, as it has in the past, from its 102-foot long ladder. There will also be a tour of the truck where people can see all the different equipment and learn how it works.

“It’s great. They’re a huge hit and they always draw a lot of people,” said Anthony.

Wells mentioned that he must bring the truck to the market around 5:30 a.m. in order for him to “beat the farmers there” and fit it in the lot. He doesn’t mind though because he said that “it’s just a great day to spend time letting people know what we do and how we do it and the mechanics of how fire safety works.”