{"id":210,"date":"2024-09-16T14:58:12","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T14:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/olivia-mello-portfolio\/?p=210"},"modified":"2025-04-02T16:11:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T16:11:42","slug":"fox-61-news-anchor-and-reporter-samaia-hernandez-discusses-how-she-overcomes-stress-and-burnout-on-the-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/olivia-mello-portfolio\/2024\/09\/16\/fox-61-news-anchor-and-reporter-samaia-hernandez-discusses-how-she-overcomes-stress-and-burnout-on-the-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Vernon fire prevention week highlights the importance of fire alarms as town council members join education efforts "},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Break\u00ading News Graphic.\/ Philip Oroni for Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Olivia Mel\u00adlo
UConn Newswrit\u00ading
Octo\u00adber 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VERNON \u2013 The first time four town coun\u00adcil mem\u00adbers will step up as fire edu\u00adca\u00adtors, aim\u00ading to teach impor\u00adtant safe\u00adty lessons in local ele\u00admen\u00adtary schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ver\u00adnon kicks off its annu\u00adal fire pre\u00adven\u00adtion week this upcom\u00ading week. Each year the town\u2019s fire depart\u00adment and town coun\u00adcil pick a fire safe\u00adty focus to high\u00adlight for the week. This year the focus is fire alarms.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town has been doing fire pre\u00adven\u00adtion week since 1992 and since then it has become the longest pub\u00adlic health obser\u00advance in the coun\u00adtry. The hol\u00adi\u00adday came about due to the Great Chica\u00adgo Fire which killed and injured many in the 1870s. Due to that fire the town saw the impor\u00adtance of edu\u00adcat\u00ading the com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty about fire pre\u00adven\u00adtion and safe\u00adty.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fire Mar\u00adshal Daniel Wasilews\u00adki told coun\u00adcil mem\u00adbers on an Oct.1. meet\u00ading announce\u00adments on what events will be tak\u00ading place dur\u00ading this week. He advo\u00adcat\u00aded to the coun\u00adcil on the impor\u00adtance of fire alarms. The town coun\u00adcil vot\u00aded unan\u00adi\u00admous\u00adly to approve this year\u2019s fire pre\u00adven\u00adtion week. Sig\u00adnal\u00ading for a strong com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty effort in the pro\u00adtec\u00adtion of oth\u00aders.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Wasilews\u00adki goal for the week is to spread aware\u00adness to peo\u00adple in town about check\u00ading to see if their alarms are up to date and work\u00ading. The slo\u00adgan this year being, \u201cSmoke alarms make them work for you,\u201d he said. Along with that he expressed his enthu\u00adsi\u00adasm about oth\u00ader edu\u00adca\u00adtion\u00adal fire safe\u00adty events going on at the fire sta\u00adtion going on this week.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coun\u00adcil mem\u00adber Phyl\u00adlis Win\u00adkler is excit\u00aded about this upcom\u00ading week because she holds a large role in fire safe\u00adty edu\u00adca\u00adtion. Win\u00adkler is a new mem\u00adber of the town coun\u00adcil but has held a large role in the com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty for a while, espe\u00adcial\u00adly when it comes to her role in fire safe\u00adty edu\u00adca\u00adtion.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 30 years, Win\u00adkler has been a fire edu\u00adca\u00adtor for the town. Dur\u00ading that time, she also was a teacher and has since retired. Her role dur\u00ading fire pre\u00adven\u00adtion week is to go to all five ele\u00admen\u00adtary schools in town talk\u00ading to every class about the impor\u00adtance of fire safe\u00adty.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Win\u00adkler is accom\u00adpa\u00adnied by the Ver\u00adnon Fire Depart\u00adment when she goes to school. This year is spe\u00adcial because four oth\u00ader mem\u00adbers of the coun\u00adcil are being trained to become fire edu\u00adca\u00adtors. This is the first time the town has decid\u00aded to do this.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Win\u00adkler stat\u00aded how excit\u00aded she was about the new addi\u00adtion of fire edu\u00adca\u00adtors to help her go around to each ele\u00admen\u00adtary school. She also said how it is also impor\u00adtant that the town coun\u00adcil can become more famil\u00adiar with the town coun\u00adcil. When asked Win\u00adkler was not pos\u00adi\u00adtive on exact\u00adly which of the oth\u00ader town coun\u00adcil mem\u00adbers were becom\u00ading fire edu\u00adca\u00adtors.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Win\u00adkler and the mem\u00adbers of the fire depart\u00adment go to the schools, they focus on the safe\u00adty aspects but also let the chil\u00addren have fun and make sure they feel com\u00adfort\u00adable with the fire\u00adfight\u00aders. Win\u00adkler men\u00adtioned that in the past there had been issues with chil\u00addren fear\u00ading the fire\u00adfight\u00aders when they came dressed in their full gear dur\u00ading school fire drills. To fix that issue, this year they are show\u00ading the chil\u00addren each step a fire\u00adfight\u00ader goes through when they gear up.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fire edu\u00adca\u00adtion focus\u00ades on inform\u00ading the kids about stoves, out\u00adlets, grills, and open flames. Each class also comes up with an escape plan if there was a fire in the class\u00adroom or dur\u00ading the school day. The fire\u00adfight\u00aders and fire safe\u00adty edu\u00adca\u00adtors like to pri\u00ador\u00adi\u00adtize cre\u00adat\u00ading a fun envi\u00adron\u00adment for the chil\u00addren by adding in addi\u00adtion\u00adal yet edu\u00adca\u00adtion\u00adal fun activ\u00adi\u00adties like learn\u00ading how to do \u201cstop drop and roll\u201d and going out and see\u00ading the firetruck and get\u00adting a pic\u00adture inside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Win\u00adkler said that it is imper\u00ada\u00adtive to edu\u00adcate chil\u00addren on the impor\u00adtance of fire safe\u00adty. Allow\u00ading them to not feel afraid if a fire were to hap\u00adpen and mak\u00ading sure they know how fire safe\u00adty is impor\u00adtant in their own homes. This year, Win\u00adkler believes that Ver\u00adnon has made strides in enhanc\u00ading their efforts for fire pre\u00adven\u00adtion week.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Win\u00adkler said that the com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty\u2019s response to Fire Pre\u00adven\u00adtion Week has always been over\u00adwhelm\u00ading\u00adly pos\u00adi\u00adtive, with many peo\u00adple in the com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty express\u00ading grat\u00adi\u00adtude for the ini\u00adtia\u00adtive.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phyl\u00adlis Win\u00adkler: Spoke over the phone  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Email Con\u00adtact: pwinkler@vernon-ct.gov<\/a> or Winkler.phyllis@gmail.com<\/a>  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Olivia Mel\u00adloUConn Newswrit\u00adingOcto\u00adber 2024 VERNON \u2013 The first time four town coun\u00adcil mem\u00adbers will step up as fire edu\u00adca\u00adtors, aim\u00ading to teach impor\u00adtant safe\u00adty lessons in local ele\u00admen\u00adtary schools.  Ver\u00adnon kicks off its annu\u00adal fire pre\u00adven\u00adtion week this upcom\u00ading week. Each year the town\u2019s fire depart\u00adment and town coun\u00adcil pick a fire safe\u00adty focus to\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":951,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/olivia-mello-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/olivia-mello-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/olivia-mello-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/olivia-mello-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/951"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/olivia-mello-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/olivia-mello-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":312,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/olivia-mello-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210\/revisions\/312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/olivia-mello-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/olivia-mello-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/olivia-mello-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}