Fire safety rolls out to Oak Bay elementary schools

Grade 3 and 4 students across Oak Bay become young embassadors for fire safety with a tiny house on wheels each year.

The venture started in 1990, as a program brewed by the Oak Bay and Victoria firefighter local unions and they’ve rolled out every year since, pardoning a couple in the late 1990s when it was at Camosun for an overhaul.

“I run into parents now, that remember going through as kids,” said Capt. Rob Kivell, fire prevention division. “We think of it as a great educational tool. It gets kids thinking about fire safety, they’re like our little ambassadors.”

Now solely offered by Oak Bay, the lesson starts with a fun, but informative, video, says Kivell, fire prevention officer at Oak Bay fire. “That’s how we start it out then we go over the rules and break them into groups.”

The kids tour the kitchen on the main floor, learning about stove safety, such as keeping burners clear of flammable product, and then head upstairs. There they talk about knowing two exits ahead of time, checking the door for heat, and more.

Oak Bay fire brings the safety house to Willows students April 9 and 10, St. Michaels University School junior campus April 11 in the morning and Glenlyn Norfolk School the afternoon of April 12.