Firemen to visit Wolfeboro schools

Members of the Wolfeboro Fire-Rescue Department will be making Fire Prevention and Safety presentations in local schools during Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 3-9. The department will tie the presentations at the Carpenter School, Crescent Lake School, Wolfeboro Nursery School, All Saints Nursery School, and the Wolfeboro Area Childrens Center to the national Fire Prevention Week theme of Test Your Smoke Alarms.During the week, members of the Wolfeboro Fire-Rescue Department will appear at the schools to talk about and demonstrate various fire safety issues to nearly 700 kids. We attempt to tailor the presentations to the age of the kids, said Lt. David Brackett, coordinator of the program. The topics begin with Your Friend the Firefighter for the younger kids, work up to Exit Drills in the Home for fourth graders, and How to Call the Fire Department for sixth graders.Members of the department will demonstrate the various issues, and well as allow students to see and touch the protective clothing and breathing apparatus. The National Fire Protection Association has chosen as this years theme 'Test Your Smoke Alarms,'" said Brackett. We plan to work that idea into each of the presentations.Several of the younger kids will be making the trek to the fire station for a fire prevention presentation and to see the various fire trucks and other equipment.To wrap up the week, on Sunday, Oct. 10, the 11th annual Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service will be held starting at 2 p.m. at the monument in front of the Public Safety Building. The monument was built and dedicated in 1994 and is designed as a tribute to all who have served in the Wolfeboro Fire-Rescue Department and are now deceased.It particularly honors the three Wolfeboro firefighters who have died in the line of duty, said Wolfeboro Firemens Relief Association President Hope Elliott. They are Samuel H. Libby, who died on duty in 1929; Lyle A. Colby, 1960; and Eugene F. Lehner, 1969. State and Local dignitaries have been invited to attend, and the public is welcome. Donations for the perpetual care of the monument will be gratefully accepted. As part of the service, the numbers 5-5-5 will sound on the towns fire horn. Box 5-5-5 is the traditional signal the fire service uses to signify a line-of-duty death.We ask anyone around town who hears Box 5-5-5 during the service to pause for a moment and think about those in the fire service who gave their lives to protect others, especially the three from Wolfeboro, Elliott said. An open house with light refreshments will follow the service at the Wolfeboro Central Fire Station. Two antique fire pumpers will be on display, courtesy of the Wolfeboro Historical Society.Call 569-1400 with any questions about Fire Prevention Week 2004.