Page 13 of The Great Maple Mistake

Chief redirects the kid’s attention back to him. “Okay, Roni, thank you for telling us. Now, why does the smoke alarm make a loud noise?”

“So we know there’s smoke in the house, and we should get out fast.” As he says ‘fast,’ he waves his free hand quickly in front of his body.

“Yes. Exactly. Very good. Now, who here has one of these in their home?” All the hands shoot into the air, and I notice this time, so does Alex’s. Chief notices too, and he grins. “Excellent. Who has more than one?” All the hands shoot into the air again. “Good! You should have at least one on every floor of your house. And what do you do if you hear it go off?”

A kid in a green T-shirt and denim shorts shoots a hand into the air but answers at the same time. “Tell Mom and Dad that dinner’s burning!”

All of the adults in the room laugh.

The little kid in the fire hat jumps in and answers. “Get out of the house!”

Chief nods. “Yup. You get out of the house. Has anyone heard the smoke alarm go off before?” The kid who mentioned dinner burning raises a hand, and I glance at Alex. He’s biting his lip to keep from laughing. Three other kids raise their hands, but most of them shake their heads or say no. “Okay. Since most of you haven’t heard it, I’m going to press the button and let you hear what it sounds like. It’s going to be loud and annoying.” Ihurry over to the door and close it to keep the noise minimal for the rest of the library. Chief nods his thanks. “Okay, everyone ready?” A few of the kids nod, and a few of them put their hands over their ears. Chief pushes the test button on the front of the smoke alarm, and a piercing chirp fills the room. Some of the kids flinch, and all of them wince. The chief releases the button, and the sound stops. “If you hear that, you get out of the house fast. Right?” All their little heads nod. “And you stay outside until an adult tells you it’s okay to go back inside. But how do we get out safely?” There are a lot of blank stares. Chief turns around and looks at me. “Well, Cody? How do we get out of the house quickly and safely?”

“We get low and go, Chief.” I know what he wants me to say because we worked out the presentation in advance.

He nods. “Right. Now, who knows how to get low?” Some kids raise their hands, but others go ahead and throw themselves on their bellies, arms and legs flailing every which way. “Good demonstration, kids. We get low because smoke likes to go up to the ceiling first, so the good air will be down by the floor. And once we’re near the floor, we crawl on our hands and knees and get out of the building.” Chief leans toward the kids. “Who knows what to do after we’re safely outside?”

The kid with the fire hat shouts, “Call 9-1-1!”

“That’s right. You call 9-1-1. Do you go back inside?”

All the kids shout, “No!”

“And where do you go after you’re outside?” There’s a sea of blank looks. “Every family should have a meeting place.”

One of the older kids says, “We do that at school.”

Chief nods. “Right. You all should have that same kind of plan at home. When you go home tonight, make sure to ask your family where your meeting place will be if there’s a fire at home. Now, who remembers what we do if the smoke alarm goes off?”

Several of the kids shout, “Get low and go!”

The chief nods. “And what do you do when you’re outside?”

One of the older kids answers, obviously getting bored. “Go to your meeting place and call 9-1-1.”

“Correct.” Chief turns around, and that’s my cue to end the safety lesson and move on to the fun part of the activity. “And now, firefighter Cody is going to show you how we get into our firefighting gear.”

I have all eyes on me, but the ones I feel the most intensely are Alex’s. I glance over, and he’s moving closer. We smile, and I get that good sort of whooshing feeling in my stomach, like I’m on a roller coaster. I try to focus on the presentation as I haul my turnout gear from my duffle. “We call our personal protective clothes and equipment our turnout gear. When I put my gear on, I don’t take off my other clothes.” I pull at the shoulder of my T-shirt and gesture to my navy blue uniform pants. “My gear goes over it.” I reach for the pants, stepping into them with my boots still on, pulling the suspenders over my shoulders. “The pants come first.” I secure the Velcro flap in the front and clip the belt in place, then tighten the suspenders. “Next is the coat.” I swing it over my shoulders and slip my arms inside. “It’s heavy like a winter coat, and it’s made of lots of layers that protect us from the heat when we’re fighting a fire.” I pull the balaclava over my head and tuck it into my coat, then do up a few of the clasps at the front, not bothering with all of them for this demonstration. “Now this is the odd-looking part.” I haul the oxygen tanks up and slip my arms through the straps. “It looks a bit like a backpack, but it’s actually bottles of clean, fresh air, so I don’t have to breathe in the smoke at a fire.” I glance at the chief. “Chief’s gonna take over the explanation, because now I’m going to pull on my mask. This is what I breathe through to get the clean air from the bottles on my back. Now, the mask is a little scary, but don’t be afraid. It’s just me in here.” I pull the maskover my head and position it over my face, pulling the straps so it’s tight, then pull the balaclava up over my head.

“Firefighter Cody is gonna put on his helmet next.” I grab my helmet and put it on, then screw the oxygen valve onto the front of the mask with a hiss. “Hear that hiss, kids? That means the clean air is getting to Cody. And now you can hear him breathe.” I inhale deeply, and it makes another hissing sound.

One of the kids pushes up onto their knees and points at me. “He sounds like Darth Vader!”

I grin and glance at Alex, who is biting his lip again, still trying not to laugh. But the chief takes the kid seriously. “He does, but firefighter Cody’s a good guy, and he’s there to help you in a fire.”

Yuro steps forward, addressing the kids. “If we’re fast asleep in our beds, and we wake up to fire in our homes, and someone dressed like this is in our room, we’ll know it’s okay to go with them. They are safe.”

“That’s right. Firefighters are friends.” Chief gestures for me to come over. “Firefighter Cody is going to sit with us. And if you want to check out his gear, or ask questions, you can do that.”

I take off my breathing apparatus and carefully walk toward the kids, moving a bit slowly so I don’t scare the little ones. Kneeling down next to the chief, I smile. “Anyone want to feel how thick my coat is? It keeps me safe from the heat.” Like floodgates have opened, I’m swarmed by little people. Hands brush over my arms, and one kid even knocks on my helmet. “Anyone have any questions?”

A little kid, about eight or so, with a riot of blond curls and big green eyes, shoots their hand into the air but doesn’t wait to be called on. “How many fires have you gone to?”

“Lots. I’ve been a firefighter since I was a senior in high school. I started out as a volunteer and kept at it through college. When I graduated, I decided I wanted to do this as my job, so I did.”

“What if you have to go poop when you’re at a fire?” I didn’t see who asked, but I think it’s the kid with the toy firefighter helmet. The rest of the kids laugh, and I glance at Chief, who shakes his head like he’s not surprised.

“Well, we try to go when we’re at the firehouse, but when there’s a fire, you can’t stop to use the restroom. So unless it’s an emergency, you hold it until you get back to the firehouse.”

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