Raymond Fire & Rescue Department wraps up Fire Prevention Month activities

From left are Raymond firefighter/EMT Brian Blanchard, 
Raymond Elementary School student Sylvie and her dad,
Ryan, and Raymond firefighter/EMT Carol Dennison
during Fire Prevention Month activities at the school
in October. SUBMITTED PHOTO 

Leaving a lasting impression upon the community and students attending Raymond Elementary School, this year’s Fire Prevention Month was a huge success in Raymond.

“For the Raymond Fire Department, October is Fire Prevention Month, not just a week, because we have so many activities” said Raymond Fire Chief Bruce Tupper.  

This year the Raymond Fire Department did much more for Fire Prevention Month than in years past. 

At Raymond Elementary School, which has been very supportive of these activities, age-appropriate messages were presented to 280 Pre-k to fourth graders during the activities.  Teachers at the school were provided one of two videos for the children to view to save time and minimize COVID-19 exposure. 

Raymond firefighters and EMS personnel also educated a total of about 50 more young children at four local daycare facilities, and at the Raymond Village Library.  

A new event for this year was created by Firefighter/paramedic Carol Dennison and supported by FF/EMT Brian Blanchard. 

At the event, Raymond Elementary School children were given outlines to color in, which served as a ticket to be entered in a raffle drawing for one of three prizes including a ride to school in a fire truck, a set of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and a fire extinguisher. 

The school picked the three prize winners at random. 

One of the pre-K students, Sylvie, met the fire truck with her parents at the Raymond Central Fire Station, and then was driven to school with Carol Dennison and Brian Blanchard.  At the school Sylvie was greeted by Principal Beth Peavey and many of the students and teachers. 

“We have an excellent working relationship with the fire department, supported by all of my teachers who realize how important this is for the safety of our students,” Peavey said. “The addition of the three raffle prizes this year was simply great, and this is something the children will really look forward to again next year.” 

Raymond’s short fire prevention videos are available for anyone to view with their children.

For Preschool through grade 2, there is a less than 6-minute video about what a firefighter looks like in their fire gear and the video is not scary:  https://www.raymondmaine.org/content/suiting.  For grades 3 and 4 there is a longer video which is less than 12 minutes on kitchen fire safety and escaping from your bedroom during an emergency situation:  https://www.raymondmaine.org/content/kitchen-safety.

For further information about fire prevention efforts in Raymond John Facella, Fire Prevention at 207-655-1187 (leave a message), or send an email to pantherpinesconsulting@gmail.com <