17th CES educates local children on fire safety Published Feb. 1, 2013 By Airman 1st Class Erica Rodriguez 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Members of the 17th Civil Engineer Squadron visited Eldorado Elementary School in Eldorado, Texas to educate the 3rd grade class on home fire safety, Jan. 30. "Our main purpose is to educate the youth, also the adults, on how to prevent fires in the home and also what to do in case there is a fire in the home," said Glenn Haffner, 17th CES fire prevention assistant chief. "We are strongly encouraging the pre-planning process. A lot of kids these days aren't really sure what to do in case there's a fire." Glenn Haffner and Jason Garcia, 17th CES fire inspector, brought the base's mobile fire safety house to the school as the major tool in helping spread their message. The mobile safety house is a two room trailer containing a mock kitchen in one room and a bedroom in the other. The students can enter the trailer and physically see ways of preventing a fire in the home or what to do when there is a fire. The key elements Haffner talked about were kitchen safety, how to call 9-1-1, what kind of questions the dispatcher would ask and what steps to take to evacuate the house in the event of a fire. The mobile safety house is equipped with several tools to help simulate a house fire. These tools include a smoke detector, a fog machine able to produce simulated smoke and the door leading from the kitchen to the bedroom heats up so the students can experience what a door may feel like if there was a fire on the other side. With these tools, the students can run through an emergency drill in the mock house. Several students expressed how much they enjoyed the visit from the 17th CES department. "They really like the mobile safety house that comes out," said Haffner. "They get to climb out the window when the fire alarm goes off, which is really exciting for most of them. They like the theatrical smoke that we use as a simulation and at the end we are able to give them some cool stuff in these packets containing more fire safety information." The department likes to try and visit at least two local schools a year outside Tom Green County, where funding for fire safety education is limited and based on volunteer firefighters. "The schools are very receptive to us," said Haffner. "This type of resource is a worthy cause and the schools are appreciative of it. In sharing our messages, it makes Goodfellow Air Force Base and the Air Force look good as community stewards as a whole." The department hopes the students take home the lessons to share it with their families; so not only the children know what to do in case of an emergency fire, but the entire family can too.
