The Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA) took fire safety education to a whole new level.
Schools from all over the Lakeland had the opportunity to learn about fire safety from Juno Award nominee Mary Lambert on Tuesday, Oct. 9 as part of Fire Prevention Week.
"It's just something different. This is the first time we've done something like this for the whole community," said regional training and fire prevention officer, Capt. Dwayne Ethier.
Normally, individual fire stations visit different schools and conduct fire drills, but this year the BRFA wanted to switch it up.
The presentation by Lambert was popular among the attending schools. Notre Dame Elementary School Grade 4 student Neddie Severyn, said her favourite part was singing along and learning all about fire safety.
"I liked that she brought in Sparky, and she taught us a lot about fire, what to do, and how to stop, drop, and roll. She made a little play about the smoke (detector), and everything," expressed Severyn.
Bonnyville firefighters participated in the show alongside Lambert, dancing and singing with the students.
"It looks like the kids loved it, and they had a lot of fun. I think some of our firefighters had a lot more fun," Ethier noted.
Volunteers from the audience were brought up to demonstrate what to do if someone catches on fire and the importance of having a plan in case there's a house fire.
Lambert's Sing Out Fire Safety started after a fire chief contacted her about creating a program to help educate kids on how to protect themselves and their homes against the damages fires can cause.
"I do lots of different themes, but this is my favourite one to do. It's fun, but kids learn through music and repetition, and it really sticks with them," Lambert said, adding she's heard a lot of success stories from kids who've seen her performance.
Having the children educate their parents was among the reasons why Ethier sees the fire prevention program as vital.
"It's education. It's not just education for the kids, because kids actually learn a lot faster than adults, especially when it comes to venues like this. They take it home, start pestering their parents about it, and the parents start to learn after that. That's really all it is, is education, because the best way to put out a fire is to not start it to begin with," he detailed.
