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Grace
and Aiden Psczulkoski from Arcanum
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Rage “teaches” fire
safety to children
Great Darke County Fair...
Rage Takes Front Seat at the Main Entry of the Great Darke County Fair
By Elaine Bailey
“Animals can teach us something… children can relate to them.”
With donations, grants, personal time and money, Allen Keaser and his
wife Nancy take Rage, a three-year-old Dalmatian, to teach fire safety
to children at festivals, fairs, parades, and area schools.
“We’ll go to any classroom as long as it’s okay with the rescue
department in that township. We call the fire chief to make sure
that it’s okay to take Rage.”
Having raised children, Keaser realized that children relate to
animals, and they remember what is demonstrated or taught with
animals. Although Dalmatians have a reputation for being
energetic and sometimes aggressive, Keaser says that the temperament of
a Dalmatian is developed in the right atmosphere with careful training
at a young age. Rage lives in the Keaser home with nine other
dogs and is provided firm and consistent training.
Keaser acquired the Dalmatian three years ago in November from a litter
of pups that Ryan Dennison of Arcanum purposefully bred for the
Greenville Township Fire and Rescue program. “Ryan said that he
would have another litter of Dalmatians so that Nancy and I could start
a fire safety program.”
From that time on, support from the community blazed.
“So many people are supportive of this program,” acknowledged Keaser.
“We can’t thank Nevin, Brian, the fire chief, and the trustees
enough.”
Nevin Eley, the manager of the Minuteman Press in Greenville,
graciously donated the fire safety cards given to youngsters.
Brian Reeser designed and applied the fire and Stop, Drop, and Roll
decals on Rage’s yellow parade truck, which was acquired from Moody’s
Auto Sales in Ansonia. Chief William Zink of the Greenville
Township Fire and Rescue and the Greenville Township trustees are
hugely supportive of the program.
With these individuals and the continuous support of many other Darke
County residents, Stop… Drop… and Roll safety is taught to
preschool and kindergarten children. First graders are introduced
to Good Fires... Bad Fires, and second grade students learn how to
crawl under smoke and how smoke detectors work.
Allen gets many of the instructional materials from the Home Safety
Council website. http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/index.asp
“They have great videos on the website for teachers to use,” shared
Keaser. He admitted that he improves Rage’s program by making
adjustments from teachers’ suggestions and adapts his approach with
children while working with them.
With monies from a Dayton Power and Light grant, child-sized fireman
uniforms were purchased. Children can don a tan jacket and cargo
pocket pants with reflective striping. An authentic fire shield is sewn
on the right side of the jacket and an American flag is sewn on the
upper right sleeve. The ensemble comes complete with helmet and
boots.
In addition to promoting fire safety with young citizens, Keaser and
his colleagues also go to the county home to practice evacuation and
fire safety with the elderly.
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On
Display at the Fair - Child-sized Protective Gear
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