By Staff
Melissa Cason
The Russellville Fire Department is working extra hard this year to bring more awareness to fire safety in the wake of the death of 6-year-old Mason Scott, who was killed in a fire at his Russellville home in August.
"This is something we do every year, but the recent child's death we worked has made us want to work harder to get to the little ones about fire safety," RFD Chief Joe Mansell said.
The fire department spent Thursday morning talking to kindergarteners at West Elementary about fire safety. The department showed the students a video and gave them firsthand exposure to smoke in their Fire Safety House, and also demonstrated how the different equipment is used by firefighters at the scene of a fire.
"One of the biggest things we want students to learn is to make sure they have two exits from every room," Fire Marshall Bobby Malone said.
Malone said it's important for every household to have fire drills in the home.
"Parents need to practice with their children on what to do if they hear the smoke detector sound," Malone said. "Make the smoke detector go off when your children are awake and have fire drills at night so the children will know what to do."
Malone said it is essential that each household has a meeting place away from the driveway so that the fire department can be notified if someone is missing.
In addition to working harder in the schools, the department also wants to push harder to have working smoke detectors in all homes.
"Last year the homes with non-working smoke detectors outnumbered the homes with no smoke detector at all," Malone said. "It's important that your smoke detector works. Check them every month, and change the batteries every year."
Mansell said the department would be happy to install smoke detectors in homes that need them or provide a household with a fire safety inspection.
"We aren't going to make you do anything," Malone said. "We only make suggestions to keep your home safe from fire."
For more information on any of the fire safety services offered by the Russellville Fire Department, call 332-8761.