For the past 11 years the Bellevue Fire Department has been teaching fire school, a one-day course designed to keep kids safe.
The Bellevue Fire School goes beyond fire safety, it touches on every aspect of young people's lives and turns them into safety ambassadors.
It doesn't take long after that first puff of smoke that the little room is filled with smoke, vision noticeably impaired. This could be the start of a very sad story, but these kids are learning what to do in emergency situations and how to take control and get out safely.
The first step is to check the doors. "Don't use your palm because the palm might burn, so always use the back of your hand to feel the door and if it is hot don't open it," said Jack Stevens.
That leaves the window as the only way out of this burn trailer, so the kids climb out. The mailbox is a popular meeting place of the evacuation plan.
The fire and safety school covers more than just fires. "The Convincer" is designed to show kids what it feels like to be in a slow speed collision and the benefit of seat belts. "There is a lot of hands on stuff like you see with 'The Convincer,'" said Brian Koontz. "They get to participate in it, they get to crawl around in the smoke. They get to do a lot of hands on stuff versus just sitting watching videos."
Natalie helped with one part of the bicycle helmet station and then watched what happened to the melon not wearing a helmet. Another session was what firefighters look like geared up and how each part of their uniform is essential to their safety.
That last station was actually more important than it sounds. In some cases children caught in fires hide from firefighters because they look like monsters in their bunker gear.
