5 local Fire Departments collaborate to teach QES students fire safety

Three firefighters stand in front of their fire truck and answer questions from about 10 children
Firefighters from Bay Ridge Fire Rescue answer questions from Queensbury Elementary School second graders

This week is fire safety week at Queensbury Elementary School, where students learn the basics of how to prevent fire, and what to do if a fire occurs. 

Bay Ridge Fire Rescue, West Glens Falls Fire Department, South Queensbury Fire Rescue, Queensbury Central Fire Department, and North Queensbury Fire Department partnered with Queensbury Elementary School to bring trucks, equipment, and a class on fire safety to campus this week. 

“We’re here to show you some of our equipment,” said one of the Bay Ridge firefighters during his opening statements to a pool of second graders huddled eagerly around his truck. “West Glens Falls Fire Department will show you what to do when you have a fire, and we brought our truck to show you what we do,” he said.

West Glens Falls Fire Department brought a Fire Safety “house”, a demo home built into a trailer that fakes a fire simulation, where firefighters demonstrate what to do and how to escape if a fire were to occur.

“I liked climbing down the ladder,” said one second grader after her group of peers ‘escaped’ the demonstration, with the help of the firefighters. 

“I liked the hose!” said one first grader.

Another chimed in, “And the fan. Did you know they use the fan to blow away bad fumes?” 

A firefighter shows students an oxygen tank
Students lean in to learn about the switches inside the cab of the fire truck
A student salutes the fire fighters as a thank you
A firefighter shows the “jaws of life” tool to the students and explains how it can cut through metal
Students watch a firefighter show a hose that can move 900 pounds of water