By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. — Something that stands the tests of time is that children, at one point in their life, either want to be a firefighter, or think they are just the coolest. Last week, the Bellows Falls Fire Department hosted students of all ages to not only show them some of their equipment in the firehouse (including the fire pole), but also discuss the importance of smoke alarms and fire safety.
“We talk about community helpers all the time at school, but to be able to actually go to the station and see the turnout gear was great,” said Central Elementary School Principal Kerry Kennedy. “Touching on smoking detectors, carbon monoxide, following adult directions.”
Kennedy said the whole school took turns walking to the fire station, class by class, and had a chance to hear directly from firefighters. She thanked Chief Shaun McGinnis and the members of the fire department who were on-hand to show the trucks and equipment and see them in action. She said that McGinnis is around the students often, as he helps with fire drills each month, but seeing him in the station is totally different. She added that his words, and the words of firefighters, tend to stick.
“The great thing is that kids practice, and we did a bus evacuation drill last week,” she said. “So, the kids were able to put it into practice. You never know when there will be an emergency, and if there is an emergency, they’ll know what to do.”
Kennedy said that there are some multi-language learners at the school who went the day before for a Spanish translation, about fire prevention and safety, as well.
“That was very helpful because they could go back the second day and know what they were talking about in English,” Kennedy said. “That was fantastic.”
Firefighter Gaetano Putignano met with kids throughout the week and explained that fire safety hits home to him. He was inspired to become a firefighter after a close firefighter friend perished in a blaze, and said that while he was at his service, he felt it was his time to help out.
“I’ve seen a lot of fire in seven years,” Putignano. “I like to help people. I always have. This is perfect for me. It’s getting harder to find firefighters. I don’t get paid, I do it because I enjoy it.”
Fires are a big part of the history of Bellows Falls, Putignano pointed out, and he was a big part of building the Brown Fuller Memorial Park downtown. Two firefighters, Terry Brown and Dana Fuller, lost their lives in Bellows Falls that night in 1981 fighting a fire at the Star Hotel. For a long time, there were just two little benches to honor them, but Gaetano helped build a park with a statue on display.
He said it is important for people to know how to not only be safe in the case of one, but also work to prevent them from starting.
Putignano admitted that the children from the child care might have been a little more enthused by the fire pole than tips on fire prevention, but he added that you can really never start too young to have them learning.
He said one main message that he put out was about smoke detectors, and to change the batteries whenever you change the clocks. He also spoke with children about sleeping with their door closed, but there is one other item he likes to go over with kids.
“I’ll ask them about the fire drill at school, where everyone works on a plan and practices it, and if they do this at home. None ever do,” Putignano said. “You do it at school three times a year, so why not at home? Ask your parents what the plan is if alarms are going off and it’s hot.”
Putignano said he heats with wood, sleeps on the second floor with one way out. He has a fold-up metal ladder that hooks to his window sill and goes out the window, and he said for years he never tried it. When he started doing this with kids, he said, ‘let’s try it.’
“We did it, in full visibility, and it’s kind of difficult,” Putignano said. “The more you do it, the more you’ll be prepared.”
