A Mansfield
firefighter wears full gear as he crawls across the gym floor in front of
students to show how to stay low and exit during a fire. Mansfield
City Schools’ pre-kindergarten students got an up-close look at the city’s
safety forces, their equipment and their vehicles on Monday.
Representatives
of the Mansfield Police Department, Mansfield Fire Department and Mansfield
SWAT talked with the children – both morning and afternoon classes at
Springmill STEM Elementary – about their roles in keeping the community safe.
The young
students were reminded to always go to a police officer if they are lost or
need help. Fire officials demonstrated the correct way to stay low and
immediately leave a building that is on fire. And the children were reminded to
never go back into a burning building for any reason.
The students’
excitement soared during Officer Denny Kiner’s demonstration of his K-9 partner
Richy, a German shepherd.
“Richy is a
work dog. He’s not meant to be petted,” Kiner said. “He’s OK with my family but
not with strangers.”
Kiner
explained that Richy is trained to look for illegal drugs, track people and
take down suspects when that is required.
At Kiner’s
command Richy charged toward a SWAT officer who wore special padding on his
arm. The dog grabbed onto the officer’s arm, eventually pulling off the padding
before Kiner ordered him to return.
After the
presentations in the gym the students were allowed to go outside and take turns
sitting in a police car, a firetruck and the SWAT vehicle.