THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512200161
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 17 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CLARA HAZELWOOD, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
If your clothes catch fire, ``Stop, drop and roll.''
That's one of the lessons that Chesapeake Fire Inspector Bob Anderson brings to local schoolchildren with the help of two three-foot high robots named Freddie the Fire Truck and Pluggie the Fire Hydrant.
``These things stick in their minds,'' he said. ``They're like little sponges; they just oak up the information.''
The training is part of a comprehensive fire safety program sponsored by the Chesapeake Fire Department in coordination with the Hampton Roads Safe Kids Coalition.
``We teach safety awareness in general,'' sid Anderson. ``It is quite broad.''
Anderson said he considers the programs for children the most important.
``If we teach them good habits, they'll take them home to their parents. Their parents didn't get anything.''
The city began its comprehensive fire safety program about 20 years ago, said Anderson, who became a fire inspector in 1980 after a little more than three years as a firefighter.
The Fire Department has specific programs for preschool and early elementary grades, for third through fifth grades and for the sixth grade. At the sixth-grade level, the children are taught kitchen safety.
``That's about the time the kids get into cooking and home ec,'' Anderson said.
In some cases, children tour local fire stations so they have a better understanding of what firefighters do. At other times, the firefighters go to the schools and do demonstrations there.
``We coordinate the program and the teachers have booklets and activities,'' Anderson said. ``We don't actually go to all the classrooms. We rely on the teachers, give them behaviors and activities.''
The subject may be arithmetic, English, Social Studies or science, but ``at the same time the children are learning fire safety,'' he said.
The Fire Department offers a variety of specialized programs for baby-sitters, senior citizens, children who set fires and others.
``We can speak on any topic under the sun,'' Anderson said. MEMO: More information about fire safety programs offered by the Chesapeake
Fire Department is available by calling the Fire Prevention Bureau at
547-6566.
by CNB