Kindergarten contest winner named ‘Fire Chief for a Day’

By Ry Clarke - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on October 20, 2022.

Marc Woons helps his daughter Sofia as she is fitted with firefighter gear from fire prevention officer Neil Jesse and chief fire marshall Heath Wright as part of the Fire Chief for a Day contest Wednesday at École Agnes Davidson School. Herald photo by Ry Clarke

Students at Agnes Davidson Elementary School had a surprise visit from Chief Fire Marshall Heath Wright and Fire Prevention Officer Neil Jesse on Wednesday as they proceeded to Mme Mooney’s Kindergarten class to surprise student Sofia Woons with her prize of being awarded Fire Chief for a Day.

Donning the mini firefighter outfit they brought her, Sofia and classmates took part in a special lunch pizza party provided by Panago North.

Woons won her spot as the Fire Chief for a Day from entering a contest which had students plan a fire escape at home to ensure they had adequate ways out of every room in their house, and was part of Fire Prevention Week Oct. 9-15.

“There was a total of 23 schools,” said Wright. “We sent home kids with fire escapes to help with their parents to work with each other and do fire safety messaging within the household.”

Working around the theme of home learning environments, the goal is to use kids to help spark conversations and awareness on fire safety at home.

“They are quite young but that’s a resource that we use to help remind parents about that fire safety messaging,” said Wright. “Remind them where muster points are and how to get out and make sure that we have two escapes from every room in the house.”

During Fire Prevention Week, firefighters ask the public to remember to remain aware of their safety during fires and help spread awareness about preventable fires.

“Public education is one of our main pillars in fire prevention,” said Wright. “We really concentrate on educating children, because parents listen to the children, they work with them, and by doing something like this and working with their children to plan fire escapes, it’s a good refresher.”

On Saturday Woons and her family will get picked up in a firetruck and go have fun at the station where she will be the “big boss” of the day, followed by a lunch together with her family and temporary coworkers.

“We are quite proud of her,” said father Marc Woons. “The purpose of the whole program is to ensure that kids are coming home with something that reminds us that we have a fire plan. We are new homeowners here in town, so I think it’s really important that we get on that right away. For me, it’s memories as a kid being told how to escape your house, and having a meeting point. It’s a great reminder and a great program.”

Hoping everyone takes safety into consideration for their home in case of a fire, Lethbridge firefighters encourage awareness for everyone.

“The motto of the Fire Prevention Week was ‘fire wont wait, plan your escape’,” said Wright. “Make sure you have working smoke alarms and make sure that you are checking it. Make sure you are checking your batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.”