New Bus Helps Clown Posse In Their Mission To Share Fire Safety Message With Students

The students were still filing into the gym at Pleasant Grove Elementary School on Oct. 6, but the fun had already started.

Samantha “Edith” Splawn was tossing a giant beach ball into the air when it got stuck in the net. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t reach it.

Charles “Expert” Blair came to the rescue, climbing onto the nearby stands and leaping high into the air to reach up and knock the ball down to earth to his awaiting cohort – much to the howling delight of hundreds of students looking on.

The show hadn’t even started, and these members of the Clown Posse already had the kids right where they wanted them – all fired up and ready to hear their very important message about fire safety.

The antics last week at Pleasant Grove Elementary marked the first show of the 2014 campaign for the Clown Posse, made up of career and volunteer firefighters from the Whitfield County Fire Department. The fun winds up later this week after being witnessed by thousands of students in pre-k through third grade at 13 other county schools.

“We come out with the fun stuff to begin with, trying to get their attention, and then we move into the serious stuff,” said Lt. Chris West, who helped start the Clown Posse in 2001 along with Shawn Damon. Damon’s alter ego - the yellow-haired “KeeKee” - has been entertaining the students ever since.

This year, the Clown Posse is arriving to its gigs in style – in an old school bus donated by Heritage Head Start, base-coated by Nathan Callaway, and then colorfully “tagged” for free by Miguel Sanchez.

Other clowns include Wesley “Hose-A” Williams, Jason “Pancake” Phillips, Jantzen “Res Q” Chance, and Taylor “Spladder” White, all held together by emcee John Chester.

But the show – which features puppets, loud music, Sparky the Dog, and Pluggie the Talking Fireplug – wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of other firefighter volunteers, including West, Callaway, Sam Hammontree, Dennis Green, Ladon West, Harold West, Darren Burnette, Nathan Saylors, Jake Warnix, Chris Roberson, Lee Coker, Branden Pewitt, and Ryan Robbs.

While some of the faces change from year to year, the message has remained the same at each show.

“The basic message is don’t play with matches, don’t play with lighters, if they see matches, be sure they give to a grownup,” West explained. “And don’t play with their stove at home; don’t try to build a fire indoors or outdoors.”

At this year’s show, though, the clowns didn’t pay attention to those instructions, started a fire in the fireplace, and then caught the house on fire trying to roast giant “marshmallows.”

Students watched as the clowns remembered to get down low and crawl out of the burning house, then all gather at their pre-determined meeting place, their mailbox. Firefighters dressed in real garb responded to the blaze, showing the kids what firefighters would look and sound like in case of a real fire. Students also watched as the clowns got in trouble with Battalion Chief  Chester for their antics.

A lot of important messages crammed into a funny, five-minute skit.

Another key message in the show featured the antics of Splawn, who kept coming out when KeeKee talked about  Edith – referring to Exit Drills in the Home and not the clown.

“We want the kids to know how important it is to know two ways to get out of their house in case of a fire,” West said. “We try to make sure that families know that if their kids live on the second story and there’s no way for them to get out on the roof so they can jump off, to make sure they’ve got an escape ladder for the kids to get down from the second story.”

They also talked how no one should go back into a burning house once they’ve escaped, no matter how tempting it might be to try and save another family member, a pet, or a favorite toy.

West emphasized that the students should never hide in a bathtub or closet or under a bed because a firefighter might not be able to find them. “Get near a window, and make a lot of noise, or get near a door and make a lot of noise,” he said.

A catchy song also helped the students remember the importance of “Stop, Drop and Roll” in case they catch on fire, to help smother the blaze. In between the drop and roll, however, they also  heard the relatively new addition to “cover their face” to prevent burns.

The national fire safety message this year focuses on the importance of working smoke detectors in every home. To emphasize that, the clowns recruited  Pleasant Grove parapro Katie Vaughn, who wore a giant cardboard cutout of a smoke detector around her face, complete with a flashing red button on her nose.