Fire Department Recruits Matthew Paterson Kindergarten Students

Patterson Fire Department has a new class of recruits... kindergarten students from Matthew Paterson Elementary School. 

It was a beautiful fall day and the perfect weather for our young learners to take a short walk through the neighborhood to visit the Patterson Fire Department where they got up-close with different fire trucks and rescue equipment and learned the basics of fire safety.

Students watch a demonstration by EMS personnel

“Firefighters don’t only help with fires; we also help with accidents,” Larry Maxwell, fire police and department chaplain, told the students. “We help people if they get sick or hurt. In the last two years, we have even rescued three horses and helped some cats out of trees.”

The students learned what to do in the event of a fire or emergency and how to safely evacuate the area, as well as the importance of designating a family meeting spot outdoors, knowing their address and when and how to call 911.

Before Maxwell could even finish asking the students the question about what they would do if their clothes caught on fire, our fire-smart students shouted “stop, drop and roll!”

To move on to the tour of the trucks, our students practiced how to stay low to the floor by crawling under a sheet that mimicked smoke in the room. Once downstairs in the truck bays, the students had the opportunity to see and climb in a ladder truck, an ambulance and a rescue truck.

Our students craned their necks toward the sky in amazement as they watched the ladder of the one truck rise 100 feet up into the air with a firefighter inside its bucket.

One of the most anticipated activities of the afternoon was the chance to spray water from a hose at cone targets outside in the firehouse driveway.

Thank you to the Patterson Fire Department for organizing a fun and informative trip for our youngest students!