They were New York’s Bravest for a day.
Youngsters at the LIFE Child Care Center in Coney Island got to play firefighter on Monday morning, when the FDNY’s Fire Safety Educational Unit paid a visit and gave the kids invaluable safety tips before introducing them to some of New York’s Bravest and letting them scamper all over the truck.
“The kids get to meet their local firefighters, see what they look like in their fire gear, and go inside the fire truck,” said Lt. John Fuimano, of the FDNY’s Fire Safety Educational Unit. “The kids love it. It’s a big treat for them.”
Fuimano, whose students were between the ages of 3 and 5, went easy on the kids during the educational portion of the morning event, which was, in most cases, their first fire safety lesson.
For instance, the Lieutenant avoided teaching the stop, drop, and roll technique, which children at that age often confuse as the appropriate response to a fire alarm, when, in fact, it is the appropriate response to their clothes catching on fire.
“With the 3 to 5 group, we don’t press stop, drop, and roll too much,” he said. “They get confused and starting rolling when the fire alarm goes off.”
Instead, the safety instructor told his students to memorize their addresses to help dispatchers and responders during an emergency, and did his best to acclimate the children to the sound of a fire alarm, which can easily frighten children that age.
He rounded out the educational period with some nifty fire hats and fire safety coloring books that come complete with an evacuation plan, before unleashing the eager scholars on Engine 318, when the fun began.
“You can only talk to 5 year olds for so long,” said Fuimano. “But once they see the fire truck, they have a ball.”
Reach reporter Colin Mixson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.
