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Participants of the Fire Kids Club
Safety Workshop yesterday. |
MALACCA: Faced with flames,
choking smoke and no parents in sight, a child
instinctively hides under a bed or inside a
cupboard -- absolutely the wrong thing to do.
This all-too-possible scenario
spurred the parents of 290 children to enrol
them in the Fire Kids Club Safety Workshop -- a
fun, hands-on approach to teaching the children
and their parents the basics of fire safety.
Mahkota Parade and the Malaysian Volunteer Fire
and Rescue Association (MVFRA), organised the
lively, activity-oriented programme yesterday.
The children, aged from 4 to 12, were taught
fire prevention techniques and survival methods,
such as "Stop, Drop and Roll", "Crawl Low under
the Smoke" and "Smoke House Escape".
Guided by MVFRA volunteers, they towed their
friends to safety and proudly donned helmets as
they played firemen for the day.
The icing on the cake was a ride
in a real, shiny red fire truck complete with
blaring sirens.
The MVFRA has been organising this workshop
since 1999. MVFRA founder K. Balasupramaniam,
who conducted yesterday's programme, said it was
never too early to educate people about fire
safety.
Aishah Kong said she was glad she had brought
her two children from Kuala Lumpur to take part.
And 11-year-old Dorina Ann Thevadasan said she
had pushed her mother into enrolling her in the
workshop.
"I learned what to do if my clothes catch fire,"
she said. "I wish my school would organise a
(fire) safety programme too."
