Students get lesson on fire extinguishers
Trending
PATTON -- Things got a little heated at Cambria Heights High School on Monday as first responders from the Carrolltown and Patton fire companies offered a unique opportunity for students to practice putting out fires.
Firefighters geared up and demonstrated how to use a fire extinguisher. Then students were given the chance to apply the lesson by extinguishing a live fire themselves.
"This is really important because if they run into a situation when they need to use a fire extinguisher, they know how to use it and how to use it properly," said Pat Wood, fire chief of the Patton Fire Company.
High school students enrolled in food and nutrition as well as chemistry classes learned about the different types of fire extinguishers and their use. After a short lesson, the students took on the task of using a fire extinguisher to knock down a live fire from a propane liquid pit.
Paul Eckenrode, the chemistry teacher at Cambria Heights, said the local fire departments have taught the class at the high school for several years. It is specifically geared toward students who are most likely to encounter a fire at the school, he said.
"If you think of anywhere in the senior high school where there's going to be a fire, it's probably going to be in one of those two rooms," Eckenrode said of the chemistry classroom and food and nutrition classroom. "We're constantly cooking in our food and nutrition classes, and we're working with flammable materials in our labs," he said.
Students also learned about the dangers posed by grease fires -- water poured on a grease fire causes the fire to grow.
The lesson was highlighted by a firefighter pouring a spoonful of water onto a live grease fire. Students saw the fire's reaction as flames burst into the sky and the fire grew several sizes larger.
"Putting water on a grease fire will only make the fire worse, and it can also cause painful burns as well," Wood said.
"It's important to be prepared in case an accident does happen," Eckenrode said.
The training was part of National Fire Prevention Week, which began Monday.
Mirror Staff Writer Calem Illig is at 814-946-7535.