As students in Fruitland, Missouri gear up for the new school year, safety took center stage at the community’s annual Back to School Bash, where children received hands-on lessons in both school bus safety and fire emergency preparedness.
The event was hosted by the Fruitland Area Fire Protection District, which partnered with certified instructors to teach the students how to stay safe during their daily rides to and from school.
“Today we are doing a back-to-school bash. Our main focus is going to be on school bus safety for the kids,” said firefighter and paramedic Adam Hilse via a Facebook video highlighting the event,. “We want to make sure the kids stay safe while they’re on the bus.”
Hilse emphasized the importance of children knowing what to do in the event of an emergency, saying it could make a critical difference.
“It’s really important that they know this information because if an incident does happen, we want the kids to stay calm and know that there’s a plan in place,” he said to a local news reporter.
In addition to school bus safety, students also participated in a fire safety simulation, crawling through a fog-filled smokehouse to practice how to react during a house fire. The hands-on experience taught them how to stay low and navigate their way out safely.
“They can get an idea of what they need to do if that happens, how to stay low and crawl out of a building,” Hilse added to local news reporters.
The fun-filled and educational day also included a visit from Marshall, the department’s beloved fire dog, which brought plenty of smiles to the crowd. From practicing real-world safety scenarios to meeting local heroes, Fruitland students left the bash better prepared and more excited to head back to school.
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