GRAND MEADOW – It’s Fire Prevention Week everywhere you go this week in Minnesota.

Friday, October 08, 1999

GRAND MEADOW – It’s Fire Prevention Week everywhere you go this week in Minnesota.

Today, Fire Chief Dean Knutson and the Grand Meadow Volunteer Fire Department’s volunteers are visiting the elementary school to spread the message of fire safety.

The students will hear the firefighters tell them about the importance of preventing fires, they will examine firefighting equipment up close and a lucky few will be able to wear a firefighter’s hat for awhile.

When it comes to keeping kids safe, no one can do enough.

Just ask Elaine Hansen and Mary Goetz. This week the pair have canvassed schools in greater Mower County to preach the American Red Cross gospel of fire safety.

They have been to Lyle, Brownsdale, Adams, Rose Creek and yesterday, Grand Meadow.

Hansen is the executive director of the Mower County chapter of the American Red Cross and Goetz is her assistant. Armed with "Sparky," the fire-fighting cartoon dog, coloring books they have visited with over 400 first and third graders this week to promote fire safety awareness.

When they visited Carolyn Sween’s third grade room, they were in for a surprise.

"How many of you have smoke detectors in your home?" asked Goetz. Every hand immediately shot up into the air. "How many of you test your smoke detectors to make sure they work?" asked Goetz. Again all hands were raised. "How many of you have a fire escape plan for your house?" she asked. Once again, all hands registered they had escape plans.

While Goetz and Hansen alternated their fire safety message, the students responded consistently with the right answers.

"What do you do when your clothes catch on fire?" asked Hansen. "Stop, drop and roll," responded all of the third graders in unison.

"How many ways out of your home should your escape plan have?" Hansen asked. "Two" the third graders again responded in unison.

One-by-one, Goetz and Hansen went through the fire safety coloring book’s warnings about dangerous situations in a home, such as matches lying in plain sight, an over-used electrical plug-in, portable heaters and more.

The third graders had the right answers.

"They might be the best class we’ve talked to this week," boasted Hansen, and Goetz concurred.

The same message was repeated to Darcy Hanken’s first graders later Thursday afternoon.

What the students lacked in confidence, when compared to the third graders, was made up for in attentiveness and more right answers than wrong to the fire safety questions.

Again, Hansen and Goetz pounded home the message of the importance of working smoke detectors on all levels of a residence.

Today, the Grand Meadow firefighters are doing the same.

Hansen said, the mission of the Red Cross is to, in part "prevent and prepare" and this week that mission was accomplished in classrooms throughout Mower County.

"The role of the Red Cross is to help people to live safe lives and our community disaster prevention program is one way we hope to do that," Hansen said.