Polk Twp. fire company hosts safety night

Polk Township Volunteer Fire Company held its annual fire prevention event Monday evening.

“The big thing we want everyone to learn is to have a meeting place — somewhere outside everyone can go to if there is a fire in their home,” said Assistant Chief Rick Sherer. “We also want children to know firefighters are here to help.”

The event covered all five senses — sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.

The crowd saw Polk’s apparatus lined up in the parking lot, along with an ambulance from West End Community Ambulance and Albrightsville Volunteer Fire Company’s smoke house trailer.

Those who ventured inside the smoke house could smell the smoke billowing throughout the trailer and hear the constant sounding of the fire alarm as one of the firefighters instructed them to get to the ground and crawl through the hallway to the back window. The back window was their escape point, where another firefighter was waiting to help them climb down the ladder.

Sisters Maddy Trauger, 9, and Dakatoh Trauger, 7, cautiously but quickly crawled through the smoke house, climbed out the window and down the ladder, and met their mother outside.

“I make them practice fire safety each year. You take these things for granted. But it’s very important,” said Nancy Trauger of Saylorsburg.

The girls agreed it was cool, but a bit scary going through the house.

“We take the smoke house around to schools and other fire safety functions,” said Al Blew, first assistant chief of Albrightsville. “It also serves as a command center on the scene of a fire or other incident. The person in charge of the scene can run command inside.”

When it was dark outside, firefighter Bryan Beck poured gasoline into a fire pit ring and lit a fire. He then walked the short distance over to the crowd to explain how to use a fire extinguisher.

“You want to remember the acronym PASS. It stands for Pull, Aim, Squeeze and Sweep,” said Beck, the fire company’s engineer.

He then went back to the blaze to demonstrate PASS and put out the fire. He pulled the pin of the extinguisher. He aimed it low at the fire’s base, squeezed the lever above the handle and swept the extinguisher from side to side. The fire turned into a giant puff of gray smoke and the crowd cheered.

A firefighter relit the blaze numerous times so kids and adults could have a turn with the extinguisher. Beck stood next to them and reminded them to PASS.

Inside the firehouse, guests tasted complimentary hot dogs, chips and soda while visiting various displays on the tables.

Firefighter Mary Beth Serfass helped kids try on turnout gear and touch tools like flashlights so they could feel like a firefighter and feel safe.

“We want to get kids safe in case of an emergency. You can live in your house a hundred years, and if there’s a fire, you forget which way is out,” she said.

This is because perception changes. Smoke, a sounding fire alarm, worry about where other family members might be, and other factors can make finding a door or window hard to locate.

It’s important to practice fire safety and escape routes, she said.

At another table, Chris Fleetwood, a dispatcher at Monroe County Control Center for 15 years, showed guests how to use the plug-in automated phone system to report an emergency. The voice asked questions such as your name, address, phone number and type of emergency.

Though they use an automated system for events like this, there will be an actual person on the other line when you call 911, he said.

West End Community Ambulance had a stretcher and medical equipment on display. Across from them, Rebecca Tippett, a fire company member and employee of the township office, handed out treat bags when the kids did a “trick” for her — such as sing a song, do a dance or tell a joke.

She had a display about the Polk Township Recycle Center and Transfer Station. On it, there was a reminder not to burn garbage.

For more information about the fire department, go to www. http://polkfire35.org.