By Ivan Pereira
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Over the summer Mekhi Fingal died when he could not escape a blaze that destroyed his St. Albans home.
The 4-year-old’s death shocked his family and friends, including the staff at the Sunshine Development center in Jamaica where the boy attended. Last Thursday the pre-K school and day care center worked hard to educate both parents and toddlers on the ins and outs of fire safety to prevent a similar tragedy.
“We had this fire safety program last year, but after what happened to Mekhi, we decided to make it bigger this year,” said Kelly King, a social worker who works at the school at 91-10 146th St.
The school administrator’s invited Firefighter Brian Borawski, a member of Ladder 158 in Springfield Gardens, to talk to parents about steps they can take to avoid fire hazards. Borawski said the major component that leads to injuries during a fire is fear, because both adults and children hesitate to get to safety.
“The most important thing is, God forbid if there is a fire, get out,” he said.
The firefighter showed the parents and toddlers a fire safety video that taught them basic tips from keeping matches out of the open to having an adequate number of smoke detectors in their homes. It also went into detail about what to do if they are caught in a blaze inside their home.
Mekhi Fingal’s one-story house on 11th Avenue went up in flames July 19 while he, his mother, grandmother and baby sister were inside. Although the two women and baby were able to get out of the home, Fingal was stuck in his room and was not able to escape from the flames.
In a similar situation, Borawski instructed the children and parents not to hide and to move to an open window, if possible, so that they can get the attention of first responders.
“Kids are usually scared, which is fine, but they need to get to a window,” the firefighter said. “If we see them at a window, then half of our job is done.”
Borawski said it is important families talk to their children about their fire safety plans, especially when they are young. Constant conversation will keep them abreast about what to do during an emergency.
Joseph Farruggio, the husband of one of the school’s physical therapists, invited Borawski and said coming up with a plan was very important. He said Borawski spoke with his son about fire safety recently and the toddler still can recall the fire safety tips.
“You’d be surprised at how much [children] are able to take in and remember,” he said.
