OTTUMWA, IOWA -- At the Quad County Health Fair on Saturday, the Fairfield Fire Department was educating children on how to safely escape from a fire with a state-of-the-art trailer donated by The Elks.
The trailer is one of several throughout Iowa that fire departments use to put on presentations to school children, so they can understand what to do when they are confronted with a fire.
KTVO spoke with Fairfield's Fire Chief, Scott Vaughan about the importance of the trailer.
Chief Vaughan says that the trailer fits right in with their adopt a firefighter program.
"We take them back into a bedroom type setting and give them a scenario of a fire in the middle of the night. We tell them what steps they would need to take, such as crawling to a window or a door to make a safe exit. Also, making sure once they are out, that they meet everyone at a gathering place so they get that 911 number dialed and wait for us to get there," said Vaughan.
Since the trailer has been donated, thousands of students have been educated on fire safety.
Chief Vaughan says that any fire department interested in using the trailer for educational purposes should contact the Packwood Fire Department.
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