City gets funding from college for fire safety

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Staff Photo/Kelli Catana
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September 19, 2008

College gives city fire funds; firefighters join in exhibition

and KELLI CATANA The Press Republican Fri Sep 19, 2008, 05:45 AM EDT

PLATTSBURGH -- The City of Plattsburgh is welcoming Plattsburgh State's contribution toward fire safety.

The college presented the city with a check for $21,500 Thursday as part of its Campus Fire Safety program.

The money will be used by the city to purchase new firefighting equipment.

"I am very appreciative of the generosity of President John Ettling and the State University of New York," Mayor Donald Kasprzak said.

"We have a friendship and relationship that is very important for both the city and the college, and this commitment is one that I am very grateful for."

As part of their program, college officials staged a mock dorm-room fire Thursday to demonstrate how quickly a fire can spread and how devastating it can be.

City firefighters were on hand to show how they can quell such a blaze.

The college, which does not pay property taxes, intends to continue the funding to the city on a yearly basis.

"Both the city and the college will benefit from this continued financial relationship, and I am hopeful that this will result in other partnerships in the community as well," Kasprzak said.

At Plattsburgh State, students gathered Thursday morning in front of Kent Hall to watch city firefighters, officials from Clinton County Emergency Services and the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control present situations where knowledge about fire safety could be useful.

Students were taught how to use a fire extinguisher by firing it onto a burning trash can. If students turned their backs on the fire, as they were instructed to never do, the trash can would re-erupt in flames.

A portion of Kent Hall was blocked off and filled with theatrical smoke so students were able to experience what escaping a real fire was like.

In addition to feeling their way through a smoke-filled hallway, they were equipped with goggles to simulate escaping a fire while intoxicated.

A mock dorm room was set ablaze, using nothing more than materials found in any college room. Papers, a television and twin-sized bed were lit with an emergency flare, and in less than 22 seconds, the blaze sent black smoke into the crowd.

"It's a good way to get students aware about the dangers of fire and about fire safety," said Greg Fitzgerald, president of Pi Alpha Nu fraternity. "You're actually learning."

More than three-fourths of the buildings in Plattsburgh that are high enough to need aerial trucks are located at Plattsburgh State.

"They (City Fire Department) are talking about the possibility of a new aerial truck," Plattsburgh State spokesman Brendan Kinney said.