By Cathy Spaulding
Poor Green Bean.
All his clown friends manage to escape their burning house, while he cowers in fear. Luckily, firefighters manage to rescue him and reunite him with his pals as hundreds of kids laugh with delight.
The Muskogee Fire Department’s Firefighter Clown Society, who performed the fire rescue skit at the Muskogee Civic Center on Monday, hope the kids do more than laugh at their antics. They expect them to remember valuable lessons.
“Since we’ve made these presentations, we’ve actually had kids use the lessons they learn in real life,” said Scott Crow, who plays the clown Smoky. “Kids have learned things like stop, drop and roll and saved their lives.”
Josh Doughty and his cousin Dewain Doughty remembered seeing the firefighter clowns when they were elementary school kids — Josh at Grant Foreman Elementary and Dewain at Cherokee. The two grew up to join the Muskogee Fire Department and made their debut as firefighter clowns this year.
“I remembered coming to see them when I was a kid,” said Josh Doughty, who has been with the department for two years. “It wakes you up to the possibility of being a firefighter.”
The clown performances, which continue today, are part of Fire Prevention Week 2009. This year’s theme is “Stay Fire Smart. Don’t Get Burned,” said assistant Muskogee Fire Marshal James Ledbetter.
“It’s our way of kicking off Fire Prevention Week,” Ledbetter said. “Having shows at the Civic Center gives us the opportunity to reach more kids than if we had the shows at the stations.”
On Monday morning, the firefighting clowns entertained and educated kids from Hilldale Lower Elementary School, the Early Childhood Center and Creek Elementary School. Other Muskogee school kids will see performances today.
Kindergartner Jake Nail learned a little something about the value of smoke detectors.
“I never get a fire in my house so we never even used it,” he said.
Firefighter Clown Buzz told kids that smoke detectors “smell out” smoke, but they need fresh batteries. He suggested replacing smoke detector batteries on birthdays.
Kids also learned such lessons as:
• Don’t touch a stove when it is on.
• Have an escape route and meeting place if your house catches on fire.
• Make sure everyone in the house is able to escape a burning house.
They also learned to stop, drop and roll if their clothes catch fire.
The Muskogee Fire Department has other awareness events set for this week, Ledbetter said. For example, Hilldale Elementary students will tour a fire station near their school. Fire department representatives also will hand out information and answer questions at Muskogee Public Library on Thursday, he said.
“The most important thing people should remember is to have working smoke alarms,” he said.
Ledbetter said the fire department offers smoke alarms to Muskogee residents and is willing to install them in their homes free of charge.
“It lets us get fire safety information out to the public,” he said.
Another important thing is to make a plan on what to do in case of a fire, he said.
Reach Cathy Spaulding at 684-2928 or cspaulding@muskogeephoenix.com.
If you go
WHAT: Fire safety awareness event.
WHEN: 4 p.m. Thursday.
WHERE: Muskogee Public Library, 801 W. Okmulgee Ave.
FEATURES: Brochures, information on using fire extinguishers properly.
