Fire Department helps Tea kids practice fire drills

Tea residents might have been left scratching their heads wondering why there were so many fire truck sirens blasting through the evening sky last Tuesday night.

Not to fear, it was simply the friendly firefighters at the Tea Fire Department doing something special for their community called Operation EDITH.

Operation EDITH, according to it’s official website, stands for the following: Exit — Drill — In — The — Home.

EDITH is a fire safety program that’s designed to promote proper safety habits and conversations between families. According to EDITH’s website, “The purpose is to educate early elementary school children and their families about the life-saving value of having a fire escape plan from their home.”

To help spread this message, Tea fire fighters drove around in a variety of different squad vehicles and trucks to help promote fire awareness in a unique interactive way. As the trucks drove around, families were encouraged to run through their practice drills. The Tea Fire Department suggested in a letter that, “When you hear and see us coming, we ask that you execute you’re exit drill from your home, and go to your meeting place. We suggest your practiced meeting place to be a safe distance in the front of your home such as a tree or across the street.”

In addition, the Fire Department hosted a Kids Contest where local children were given the chance to be entered into a contest to win a fire truck ride to school if they turned in safety forms to the Tea City Hall by Tuesday, October 16. The winner was not announced yet at the time of press.

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