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Sparky the Fire Dog entertains children at the Child Development Center on Oct. 9. Sparky’s appearance was part of Fire Prevention Week 2014 festivities from Oct. 6-10.

Photo by John Hollis

Fire safety stressed to kids

14 Oct 2014 | John Hollis Marine Corps Base Quantico

Nothing speaks fire safety better than Sparky the Fire Dog, a Sesame Street puppet play and a quick foray inside a parked fire truck.

 

They collectively proved to be a big hit to the roughly 100 or so toddlers who gathered at the Child Development Center North for the Oct. 9 visit by firefighters from the Quantico Fire and Emergency Services as part of Fire Prevention Week 2014.

 

The two fire safety-themed puppet shows and the subsequent tours of the towering ladder truck outside were part of the department’s weeklong effort to better educate children from Marine Corps Base Quantico’s three elementary schools and two child development centers about fire safety. The message included what to do in case of fire, while also stressing the importance of having working smoke detectors.

 

“It’s very important,” Capt. David T. Williams said. “It gets them in the mindset. If you can instill a little bit in them, then maybe they’ll learn something about that.”

 

More than 800 students took in the weeklong events, whose theme was “Smoke Alarms Save Lives,” Williams said.

 

“It teaches them about fire safety,” said Mary Mucuuthi, a preschool teacher at CDC North, “and what to do in case of fire at home or in school.”

 

To further drive the message home, some of the older children were offered realistic opportunities to practice what they had been taught in a Fire Safety House that included an artificial fireplace, stove and bedroom.


Marine Corps Base Quantico