Police, firefighters offer lesson in safety

Fort Scott Police Department Lt. Shaun West watches as a group of kids and their parents who live at the Highlands apartment complex look through educational materials provided by local public safety personnel who visited the complex on Tuesday.(Submitted Photo)

Young residents at a local apartment complex received some special visitors who brought with them an educational message on Tuesday.

A group of Fort Scott police officers and firefighters spoke to about 15 children -- age 4-12 -- who live at the Highland apartments about a variety of safety topics ranging from "stranger danger" to bike and fire safety and prevention.

Fort Scott Police Department Lt. Travis Shelton said there were a "broad range of things to talk about" with the youngsters at the public service event.

"We took some literature on bike safety, stranger danger and also provided some safety tips on walking to and from school and home," he said.

Fire personnel talked to kids about fire safety and prevention. Fire Prevention Month is coming up in October.

Shelton said the youth responded well to the appearance of the police officers and firefighters and many were knowledgeable about the topics presented.

"A few had their parents with them," he said. "They were pretty interactive when we asked questions."

Highlands Property Manager Andrea Ramm said the public safety personnel also talked about whether children knew their address, who to call in case of emergency and going to the police or nearest house if they found themselves in danger.

"There were some good tips given," she said. "The firefighters talked about what to do in case of a fire and to not be afraid if they're (kids) trapped. The firefighters can be pretty intimidating with those big outfits."

Firefighters also spoke with children about their escape plan in case of a fire at home and showed floor plans of the apartments to the kids "so they can draw or mark their own escape plans," Ramm said.

"The kids were asking questions and knew a lot of the answers, but some of the tips they didn't know," she said.

Shelton said kids were also allowed to look through emergency vehicles on hand. Officers also passed out some information to parents and answered questions about the duties of the department's school resource officer Toby Nighswonger.

Ramm said the Highlands hosted the event because she felt the topics needed to be addressed in the community. She added she hopes to make it a yearly event.

"We'd like to start doing it annually," she said. "This was the first one. We had been talking about doing it."

Police officers who participated included Shelton, FSPD Lt. Shaun West and Cpl. Mike Trim. Fire personnel who took part included FSFD Lts. Eric Shoemaker and Clint Roberts, and firefighters Stuart Troutman and Scott Shelton.