First Responder Fridays: Firefighter clowns carry fire-safety lessons to North Texas schools

Firefighters who dress as clowns teach North Texas children about smoke alarms and how to get out of a burning house. Sherman's troupe, Klown Kompany, took its safety skits to 10 public and private elementary schools, according to the city's October 2017 newsletter.

Seven firefighters and one police officer made up the troupe then. Its skits walked children through home fire drills and smoke detectors and showed them how to stop, drop, cover and roll. Bicycle safety and stranger danger were on the program too.

Gainesville has its own clowns on the calendar for Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 4-10. Gainesville Fire-Rescue announced that its Flame-Out Clowns will perform fire-safety skits at St. Mary's, Edison and Chalmers elementary schools, according to the city's notice. On Saturday, Oct. 10, the city will set up a free simulated smoke house at the Gainesville Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., where children can learn how to escape a fire. The notice says this year's national campaign centers on charging lithium-ion battery devices safely.

Nationally, 59% of home fire deaths from 2018 through 2022 happened in homes with no smoke alarms or with alarms that failed to work, according to an analysis by the National Fire Protection Association. Where alarms worked, the death rate per reported home fire was less than half as high. The study does not measure the effect of Sherman's shows or those of any other city.

Sherman's records show the program at work well before 2017. According to the minutes of an Oct. 5, 2009, council meeting, Lt. Nathan Huffman said he had spoken to about 24,000 children in his eight years with Klown Kompany. He reported four fire deaths and 17 severe fire injuries in Sherman over the previous five years. The minutes say the troupe was trying to reach older adults as well as children that year. They also record a FEMA grant for a senior-focused program.

Minutes from the council's Sept. 21, 2009, meeting show that Klown Kompany members would keep receiving assignment pay, as would the city's tactical medics and technical rescue team. The pay changed when a person's assignment changed.

In Collin County, McKinney's firefighter troupe, McTown Klownz, books its school shows in September and October. The city says its fire education office reviews county injury and death statistics for children 13 and younger every year and writes the most frequent hazards into the act. McKinney's 2015 ADA transition plan reported that the clowns reached more than 10,000 children a year.

Texas offers classroom material on the subject as well. The State Fire Marshal's Office has adopted NFPA's free Learn Not to Burn programs for prekindergarten through second grade. The lessons for kindergarten through second grade follow Texas educational standards.

Residential building fires killed about 2,900 people nationwide in 2023, the U.S. Fire Administration estimates. The agency's figures for 2014 through 2023 show fewer of those fires over the decade but more deaths from them.