ORANGEBURG, S.C. — October is National Fire Prevention Month and Orangeburg fire officials are working to educate children about fire safety.
Orangeburg County First Steps held its annual First Steps Day on Thursday. The annual event includes story time, physical fitness, arts and crafts, vendor giveaways, and appearances from local community helpers.
The City of Orangeburg brought a fire truck and Orangeburg County brought their safety house trailer to educate children on fire safety at the event.
Orangeburg County First Steps Executive Director Kathy Jenkins says it is important to have fire services attending this event so that children to know what to do incase of an emergency.
"It's important for our young ones to understand fire safety and what to do in case of a fire so that they can alert an adult,” Jenkins said. “And that they can take the proper precautions to try and find safety and have a safety plan."
Jenkins says children might be exposed to more than a fire.
"We have children all across the county that are faced with these situations and often times it's not just about a house fire or a major fire,” Jenkins said. “It could be something as simple as there's something starting on the stove or there's an electrical outlet that started to engage."
Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Fire Engineer Josh Hales says this was a good way to interact with the community outside of an emergency.
"Sometimes we can be kind of scary, all of our gear on, close for little kids,” Hales said. “So, they can get in here and see what we do, how we operate, the ins and outs of it. "
Hales says it is never too early for kids to take part in fire prevention education.
"At this age, especially the group that we had today, their mind is like a sponge, they absorb everything,” Hales said. “At certain ages, it does get kind of difficult to explain certain things to them, but as they get older, we can explain, go more into depth about fire safety, what to do, how important it is, things of that nature - to get out stay out, stay low and crawl, what to do if they wake up and see smoke in the house."