Did you know that your community is protected by volunteer firefighters?  In Nassau and Suffolk counties, there are approximately 180 volunteer fire departments staffed by over 20,000 volunteer firefighters.  These firefighters are highly trained to handle many kinds of fire and medical emergencies.

In addition to handling emergency calls, local volunteer firefighters also help to educate their communities about fire prevention, fire escape plans and fire warning devices, such as smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.

Children's Day Program helped celebrate Fire Prevention Awareness for two weeks in October.  On October 20, 2011, volunteer firefighters from the Greenlawn Fire Department brought a fire engine to our Little Plains campus in Huntington.  The children were able to sit inside the fire engine and look at all the equipment inside while the firefighters spoke to them about fire safety.  The fire hoses were a bit hit with the children too......we may have some junior firefighters here at DDI !  The volunteers were exceptional with our students....and they were very impressed with how our staff interacted with them.

As a follow-up to the fire truck visit, each classroom participated in our "Fire Truck Box Contest", making a fire truck out of a box.  Thanks to our new Art Specialists, Peter Young (Little Plains) and John Lavalle (Hollywood Drive), the classes were encouraged to be creative !  Each fire truck was unique and spectacular, so selecting a winner was not an easy task.  Not only was it a fun project for the students, but educational too !  Really, EVERYBODY was a winner !