Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Monday, October 11, 2010

Gallery (click any photo to view the gallery)

"I'm really fortunate to be the representative for Sandersville during Lexington's Fire Prevention Week," said fifth-grader Haley Buchanan. "It's really an honor."

Sandersville Elementary student Haley Buchanan is Lexington’s 2010 junior fire chief.

“You should always have a plan,” she said Monday after a schoolwide assembly for Fire Prevention Week.

Haley’s poster about how to respond when a smoke alarm sounds features one child panicking and another calming walking downstairs to safety.

“The first thing I learned was that you should test your smoke alarms at least once a month. If your alarm makes a chirping sound, you should replace the batteries right away,” she told fellow students. “Also, you should have an escape route from every room. And it’s nice to have a safe place for your family to meet.”

“Smoke Alarms: A Sound You Can Live With!” was the National Fire Protection Association’s theme for Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 3-9. Locally, the week was shifted to Oct. 11-15 because of the public schools’ fall break and the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Each year the Lexington Division of Fire & Emergency Services picks a different elementary school, and fire officials and school leaders then choose a fifth-grader to be junior fire chief. Their selection is based partly on the themed poster contest; the criteria also require that the child is comfortable in front of crowds, is a model citizen and is a strong student who can miss a few hours of school.

Haley’s week is packed with special opportunities, including the Fire Prevention Festival and Parade downtown, visits to the Homeland Security class at Eastside Technical Center and an Urban County Council work session, and tours of fire stations, Blue Grass Airport, the University of Kentucky’s art museum and the Pepsi bottling plant.

Fire Chief Robert Hendricks and Public Safety Commissioner Tim Bennett noted how Haley will represent all children of Fayette County in helping to advocate fire prevention and fire safety.

“Haley will be a great ambassador,” Bennett said.

Did you know?

Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.