Levant Fire Department celebrates Spark Pug star students with firetruck ride

LEVANT, Maine (WABI) - Four fourth graders received a special ride to school on Friday, thanks to Levant Fire’s Spark Pug Fire Prevention program!

“We start in September. We come in every single month and spend some time with our fourth graders, just educate them and actually get to know us as firefighters in the community,” explains Levant Fire Chief Eric Strout. “The P-U-G in Pug was plan, understand, get out. It goes from back when we saved a pug in a fire. It’s our mascot. I keep him close to heart.”

During the school year-long program, the fourth graders are taught fire prevention and safety tips. This includes ways to prevent fires like closing your bedroom door and checking your smoke detectors, as well as emergency information such as First Aid, CPR, and how to make a 911 call.

As a treat for those who did all of their Spark Pug homework, some students rode to school in the back of the Levant Department’s firetrucks, making quite the grand entrance at Suzanne Smith Elementary School.

The goal of the program is not only to lay a foundation for fire safety knowledge, but also to show how students can grow up and contribute.

“One of the ultimate goals was to get to fourth graders, teach them about fire safety, and hopefully plant a seed so they actually want to be in the fire service. Know what? Maybe they’ll have my job one day, they can be fire chief,” says Strout.

The fire safety fun doesn’t stop there, as the department gears up for Spark Pug Summer Academy for students who completed the program this year.

For more information on the Spark Pug program, visit the Levant Fire & Rescue website.

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