South Okanagan

Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

Carson Clarke arrives in a fire truck

Naramata Elementary School student Sam Togyi likes the idea of  becoming a firefighter someday.

On Friday he got a headstart, as one of four students selected to be fire chief for a day at the school.

The biggest excitement of the day for the chiefs, from different grades, was getting picked up in a fire truck at home at the start of the day and taken home in one at the end.

"It is really an honour being fire chief, and the ride in the truck was exciting, fun and a little bumpy," said Sam, as he showed up in the passenger seat of a truck.

 The four boys including Callum Paterson, in grade 1, Owen Madsen, in grade 3, and Carson Clarke, in kindergarten, were chosen for their participation in Fire Prevention Week.

The theme this year being "have two ways out," calling on families to not only have a home escape plan, but consider two potential exits for each room in their home if they were in a fire.

The whole week was a pretty big deal at the school. On Tuesday, students went by the Naramata Fire Hall to look at equipment and learn how to fight fires and what do do if there was a fire in their homes.

On Thursday, students from Pen High in conjunction with Naramata Fire Hall and the Penticton Fire Department presented a "The Price is Right" type game where students were asked questions about fire safety during an assembly.

The new fire chiefs were then picked from different classes later that day.

"We put this three day program together with teachers also talking about it and reading stories in the classroom," said principal Todd Lindsay. "It really was a whole week focused on fire safety."

A big crowd of youngsters gathered on the steps of the school to greet the chiefs. First to arrive were Owen and Carson, along with Owen's dad Dean Madsen, a local firefighter.

"This is a great experience for them as children," said Madsen. "How many kids get to ride in a fire truck?"

Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

Naramata Fire Chief Wil McCutcheon

Naramata Fire Chief Wil McCutcheon, who drove the second truck , stressed the importance of teaching fire safety to students.

"It is good to teach them these habits, so they can take the information home to their parents and remind them about things like testing smoke alarms, testing their fire escape plans and calling 911 from outside the house," he said.

Owen described the entire experience as awesome.

"It was really good riding in the truck and pressing on the horn," he said. "And if there was a real fire at your house, it is good to know about all this.'