Press release - Fire safety message reaches 1000th child in North Somerset this school year

Firefighters will this week deliver a life saving presentation to the 1,000th child in North Somerset since the beginning of the school year.

On Thursday crews from Avon Fire & Rescue Service will visit children at Windwhistle Primary School in Weston-super-Mare to deliver a Sparks presentation. The interactive demonstrations are given by operational firefighters to Year 4 and 5 school children to reinforce core fire safety messages in a fun way. Youngsters are then encouraged to act as ambassadors, passing on the advice to their parents, carers, friends and families.

Thursday’s visit by the Weston-super-Mare crew will see the presentation given to the 1,000th child in North Somerset since the beginning of the 2007 / 2008 academic year. Avon Fire & Rescue Service is committed to a two year programme to ensure every eight and nine-year-old at North Somerset primary schools receives a Sparks visit – a target the service is well on the way to hitting.

Watch Manager Roger Farrant, Community Safety Officer at Weston-super-Mare Fire Station, said: “The best way for us to stop children and their families getting injured in fires in the home is for us to provide education to prevent fires happening in the first place. The Sparks presentations are informative, great fun for the children and a good opportunity for them to meet the firefighters that work in their community.

“I’m sure that every one of the 1,000 children in North Somerset that have seen the Sparks presentation this year will have gone away with a far better awareness of basic fire safety.”