Peyton Fire Protection District held its second annual summer barbeque July 17. The event featured lots of food, a landing and takeoff by the Penrose-St. Francis Flight for Life helicopter and fire safety demonstrations.Melinda Simmons from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and Ben Bills from El Paso-Teller County E9-1-1 instructed kids in attendance about the importance of knowing their addresses and the correct actions to take in case of a fire. “Let’s say you moved a week ago. Your new address might not be in our system yet, so we always need you to be able to tell us what your address is,” Bills said. “That way, we know where to send the police, fire and ambulance.”In the smoke trailer (a demonstration trailer outfitted to resemble the interior of a house), Bills showed the kids what to do in case of a house fire.
- Get out of the house. Every room has two ways to get out – a door and a window. Before opening a door, brush it with the back of your hand. If it’s warm, the fire is on the other side. Don’t open the door. Instead, exit through a window.
- Meet up with your family at a prearranged location a safe distance from the house. If the smoke detector goes off in the middle of the night and your mom and dad don’t see you there, they’ll think you’re still in the house and they’ll probably try to go back in.
- Call 911.
Bills then sprayed the trailer with water-based artificial smoke that set off the trailer’s fire alarms.”Smoke rises because it’s hot, so we want you to stay low and crawl below the smoke on your hands and knees,” he said. “If you can belly-crawl like an army guy, that’s even better.”The kids participated by crawling to a window and getting out of the trailer by climbing down a ladder, making the experience a realistic demonstration of what to do in a house fire.Jim Hatfield from Pikes Peak Fire Fighters Association Rehab Services supervised the grilling of hamburgers for the event.The volunteer organization provides food and fluids for firefighters at major fires, Hatfield said.So far, this has been a fairly average fire season, he said.Peyton fire Chief Jack Rauer said the district is looking for a donation of land on which to build new fire stations, one at the north end of the district and one at the south end.The district had considered but dropped the idea of renovating the current station to accommodate bunks, which would allow the station to be manned. It would have required upgrading the septic system and the lot is too small for that, Rauer said.The good news is that the district recently got approval from the owners of 4-Way Ranch to conduct a water-hauling test, he said.The test is one of several steps needed to improve the district’s Insurance Service Office rating. A better rating should lower homeowners’ insurance premiums within the district.”We’ve notified ISO, and they’ll pick the date of the test,” Rauer said.The barbeque concluded with the recognition of Sharon Brown and Jim Fraas for their 25 years of service to the district.According to the district’s Web site, Fraas has been appointed to the district’s board to replace Chuck Burnett, who resigned in June.
