05/07/2026
Throughout the school year, Dalton firefighters have been doing double duty as guest teachers in 5th grade classes at each of the Dalton Public Schools GA elementary schools. Our annual Class 5 program is designed to teach fifth graders important fire safety information to help keep them and also their families safer from fire. The program covers the history of the Dalton Fire Department, fire and life safety goals and weather-related emergencies. One of the main fire and life safety goals is to complete a home escape plan in the event of an emergency.
We have had amazing support from our Teachers, Support Staff and Administration from each of the schools. Part of the program consists of lesson plans and completion of a workbook. In addition to this, the schools could earn extra credit by teaching younger children, making posters, giving morning Fire Safety announcements and being leaders in the school. The school with the highest percentage of participation and extra credit wins a pizza party and have the school’s name placed on a trophy. With the help of our amazing teachers, participation increased to 92%! At the end of the year all 5th grade students get to have a field trip to Dalton Fire Station 2 training center. Groups of students go to different stations learn about specific jobs and equipment used by the Dalton Fire Department. This is followed by a live fire exercise performed by the on-shift personnel. This year, the overall winner is Park Creek Elementary. This group did an amazing job, including, creating a Class 5 mascot!
The Class 5 program finishes each year with a field trip to our training facility at Station 2 to learn a little more about how our firefighters work together on a fire engine, a rescue truck, and our tower truck. They also get a chance to learn a little more about fire extinguishers and some of our other equipment. For the main event, we give the students a chance to watch as we perform a live fire training exercise in our training facility. It's not always easy to get fifth graders to pay attention, but they're always locked in when our trucks roll onto the training ground and our firefighters work together to put out the fire. We've hosted students all week and we'll have another group Friday to wrap up the class.
It's been a great year in our Class 5 program and we're thankful to the students of Dalton Public Schools for being attentive and doing such a great job with their fire safety education. This program could not work without the help from members of the Dalton Fire Department. The entire staff help in some way to ensure the success of the program. . A huge and very heartfelt thank you to Marco and Eliza Avilla of Gondolier Pizza for the help with pizza for the students and to Synovus for making sure we had water to give out. Great partnerships make this an amazing chance to teach a remarkable program to our students. And our teammates at the Dalton Public Works Department and the Dalton Parks and Rec Department did a great job setting up bleachers in the pouring rain earlier this week so our students could enjoy the demonstration.
Knowing how to prevent fires in the home and knowing what to do when one breaks out can literally mean saving lives. We're happy to partner with our local school system to make sure that our students are safe.
