Survive Alive House
The
Survive Alive House II is a joint project of the Town of Normal,
the Bloomington-Normal Association of Realtors, and the International
Association of Firefighters Local 2442. The unit is a scale model
of a house--complete with stairs, windows, and porch--designed to
give kids practice for what to do in the event of a fire.
The house is outfitted with a theater "fog" machine that allows "smoke" into the rooms through the vents. Children--accompanied by off-duty firefighters volunteering their time--are instructed to feel the back of the door when the smoke detector sounds, and then crawl out the window when they open the door and see smoke in the hallway.
The
new house--unveiled in the spring of 2000--has many more features
than the old one, which was built by volunteers in 1989. For instance,
kids can pick up a phone and dial 911--which connects them to a
firefighter acting as the emergency operator. The interior doors
also are wired so they can be warmed, which simulates a fire on
the other side of a closed door.
The
new house also features a kitchen, where firefighters could demonstrate
the proper way to extinguish a fire in the microwave or on the stove.
The house is taken to all Unit 5 schools every year, and each student in grades 1 and 2 is run through the house. Other groups may request use of the house for demonstrations by calling Firefighter Darrell Reeps at (309) 454-9752.