Fire department smoke house visits Cahaba Heights Elementary

Vestavia Hills Fire Department firefighters get to visit the city's elementary schools every October to teach lessons on fire safety.

These lessons are taught with the help of the smoke house, a trailer built to look like a miniature house with fake smoke that can be pumped in. The firefighters teach kids about creating an escape plan with their families, how to find a safe route out of a fire, how to signal firefighters if they're trapped in a burning building and the importance of closing doors to slow a fire down.

After the lesson, kids get to try out the tips they learned to escape the smoke house, which ends with a slide out the back window. The fire department also brings an engine to teach students about the different tools firefighters use when they're on call.

On Friday, Oct. 5, firefighters from Vestavia's Station 5, in Cahaba Heights, came to Vestavia Hills Elementary — Cahaba Heights to teach 11 first grade classes about fire safety.

Lt. Chris Vines, Lt. Roger Mauldin, aparatus operator Josh Roper and firefighter Andrew Gravlee spoke to 185 kids and let them experience the smoke house.