On Tuesday and Wednesday, in honor of National Fire Prevention Week, Volunteers from the Cutchogue and Mattituck Fire Departments spent the day at the Cutchogue East Elementary School teaching the children of our community the do's and don'ts of fire safety.

Over the course of this week and coming weeks, firefighters will spend additional days at the Our Lady of Mercy School and local pre-schools reaching out to over 800 children.

This year's theme was “Working Smoke Alarms Save Lives: Test Yours Every Month!”

Volunteers taught the students how to properly dial 911 to report an emergency along with teaching each student how to identify and correct hazards throughout the home. This was done by walking through a Fire Safety House that is jointly owned by both Fire Departments. While in the Safety house students were also taught how to safely exit a smoke filled home safely.

Students were also able to witness and participate in live demonstrations that included the proper use of fire extinguishers. Following the presentation students also were given tours of the fire apparatus and ambulance that were on display at the school and had an opportunity to meet "Sparky" the Fire Dog.

The Fifth and Sixth grade students were treated to a special presentation given by Suffolk County Fire Marshal Brett Martinez and his K-9 partner "Jul", who is a trained accelerant detection dog.

Fire Marshal Martinez spoke to the students about arson detection and how a dog can be used during a fire investigation to search for any accelerants used to start a fire. Jul then gave a demonstration to the students on how she uses her nose to search for accelerants that were hidden in several small cans in the parking lot.

Each Student received a t-shirt, coloring book and a packet containing school supplies and valuable fire safety information courtesy of the Fire Departments.

The community is reminded to discuss fire safety with their children and remember to test your smoke detectors and change your batteries annually.

Both the Cutchogue and Mattituck Fire Departments would like to thank the staff of the Cutchogue East School for opening your doors to us for this valuable program.

Thank you to Fire marshal Brett Martinez and "Jul" for taking the time to be a part of our program.

To learn more about the History of Fire Prevention Week click Here: http://www.cutchoguefiredept.org/apps/public/news/newsView.cfm?News_ID=375