Yo, Check-It, today was the Fire Safety Bonanza I was telling Y’all about and it was AWESOME!  It was really a good time overall, and for those of you who went and supported your halls: Good Job!  And for those of you who didn’t wake up until 2pm: oh well, maybe next year.  There was food, free pamphlets, keyring toys, and activities.  The activities were really the best part because they were a real eye opener to even me, a real fire safety buff (or at least now I am…)

Next to the R.H.S.A. table there was the R.A.D. program table.  At this table, there were Officers Kelsey and Coxe who played the victim (who knew how to beat the snot out of an attacker) and the attacker, respectfully.  Very cool.

The first activity was the “Rescue Drag.”  This entailed some poor soul (Me) thinking they could drag an -approximately- 165 lb. dummy fifty feet and back.  FIFTY FEET!  Lets just say, that the dummy and I were lucky that Capt. Scott Schulte was there to help me with the last forty five feet (give or take my dignity…)

After that there was the “Let’s-all-crawl-into-the-smokey-room,” dealio and that was scary -no lie.  There were five of us, and one Fire Fighter, and he briefed us about feeling the door, staying low, and crawling TEN feet to the exit door.  Scary…  As soon as I got in, I was like Dane Cook in the War Flute bit! LOLOL  First of all, lets just talk about this phenomenon of memory loss that happens when you open the door:  I forgot to crawl.  Then, I was blinded by -no, not the light (thank you, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band) but by the incessant smoke, no matter that we were on the floor.  Oh, did I mention that I went first?

Now, this next one, was probably the least realistic, but regardless, it was a good experience.  I participated in the Fire Extinguisher training session.  There was a Fire Fighter that operated a propane flame source from a “trash can” and I used the Water Pressure Extinguisher and the P.A.S.S. technique: Pull the pin; Aim; Squeeze the lever, Sweep the extinguisher back and forth at the base of the flame.  Very Savvy…

Now here’s the BIG ONE -Oh My GOSH!  At 2pm they lit a mock college room on fire -legit: no propane, dynamite, gasoline, charcoal, aerosol cans, candles, steak dinners, what-have-you.  Just the room and the flames.  This was one of the most scary and impressive things that I’ve ever seen -and I know what you’re thinking: “Hey Matt, you sure do get scared a lot, huh?”  Nay.  No I do not; but this inferno was something to be seen.  And for the late sleepers of the group, I’ve got a snazzy-do video you can chickety-check out.  Now, this was an event that I wasn’t going to miss, so I planted myself some forty feet away and setup the cam.  As soon as they lit this thing up, i could smell smoke, and as soon as the smoke accumulated there was fire -from there it was over: the picture fell ,the computer monitor EXPLODED and the tapestry created a curtain of flame.  Even me being forty feet away I could feel the heat, and it was deceiving how real it was, because at first, I thought it was the sun, or me just getting all worked up, but when I checked in with the peeps next to me, they confirmed that it was real flame broiled hotness.

Overall, I was super glad that I went, schmoosed, took pictures and video, and had a blast.

Oh, and I have recently discovered “No Air,” by Jordin Sparks (recently? I know, right? what, do I live under a rock? ).  And in case some Dane Cook fans are wondering, I am seeing My Best Friends Girl tonight!

PEACE!

Matt

P.S.  There will be NO audio on the video -do not fret!

: D

fire-safetyb1

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 20th, 2008 at 4:44 pm and is filed under Activities, Food, Friends, General, Hanging out, Residence Life, Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.