Posted by: |
Mary |
On: |
3/6/2007 |
ID: |
316 |
At OLA on 12/1/58? |
Born before or after 12/1/58? |
Where Lived on 12/1/58? |
No |
Before |
Greenville, IL |
I was in 5th grade, age 10, at the time of the OLA fire, and our school was an old brick building filled with wood, varnish, etc. and no fire doors, so the stairwells were chimneys for any fire. We had one fire escape from the second floor, which was one of those long metal tubes used as a slide. We always had fire drills, but not until after the OLA fire did teachers talk about wet towels, windows, and fires escapes. My father was always very fire-conscious, and ingrained that into the family: never empty an ashtray until it had sat in the sink overnight; always know exactly how to get out of any building, whether restaurant, office, school, church, or other; in hotels, always locate the stairway when you first go to your room, and know exactly how many doors are between your room door and the stairway door; in airplanes, count the exact number of seats between your seat and the emergency exit; remember to dip a towel into the toilet if there is a hotel fire; never wait for the firemen to rescue you -- get out with a wet towel held over your face; etc. In college dorm fire drills we were required to put on shoes and coat and carry a towel with us. I knew a couple of school teachers who always had a full bucket of water next to their desks. When I have an electric appliance that needs to be thrown away, I always cut the cord off at the appliance before throwing it in the trash, and I never leave an iron plugged in even for a minute unless I am right there using it, and when the children were small and the phone rang I took the iron with me to answer the phone. (Now I just unplug it.) I think that the OLA fire made a huge difference in how children were educated about fire safety, and those of us who were in school at the time of that fire are very fire-conscious. I am pleased to know that in some towns, the fire stations collect soda and beer cans, watch the market carefully, and when the price is high they sell the current stash and use the money for fire education in the local schools. The OLA fire made a huge difference in fire safety the same way the Titanic sinking made a huge difference in ship safety. What a shame it took such a tragedy to bring the changes, though!
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