Washougal High School students construct prop rooms for fire department safety open house

Washougal High School students Gage Leavitt, Gavan McCallister, and Noah Wheeler stand with Camas-Washougal Fire Department and Washougal High School staff. Photo courtesy Washougal School District

The fire department set both prop rooms ablaze to demonstrate the effectiveness of residential sprinklers at the Health & Safety Fair Open House

Washougal High School students in the Career & Technical Education Construction Technology program applied construction skills learned in the classroom to build two prop rooms for a fire safety demonstration by the Camas-Washougal Fire Department. On Sept. 23, the fire department set both prop rooms ablaze to demonstrate the effectiveness of residential sprinklers at the Health & Safety Fair Open House. Over 2500 spectators attended the open house.

“The students came with all levels of experience and gained skills working as a team on a real construction project,” said Ron Schumacher, fire marshal at the Camas-Washougal Fire Department. “They’re practicing installing drywall and using construction tools in high school.”

Washougal High School students build prop rooms for the Camas-Washougal Fire Department safety demonstration. Photo courtesy Washougal School District

Eleventh grade students Gage Leavitt, Gavan McCallister, and Noah Wheeler constructed the two prop rooms after school on Wednesday, Sept. 20. “Our aim is to create opportunities for student leadership. This team of students had to overcome some challenges in order to finish these projects,” said Brent Mansell, Woods Technology teacher at Washougal High School.

“Opportunities for real world application of classroom-learned skills with businesses in our community are invaluable. When our students realize that their skills are valued and can be applied to specific jobs, they gain confidence and get that much closer to decisions on their post high school career goals. They also see the results of their effort in our community,” Margaret Rice, director of Career and Technical Education shared.

Photo courtesy Washougal School District

The Camas-Washougal Fire Department equipped one prop room with a residential sprinkler, while the other prop room was unequipped with this fire suppression measure. During the demonstration, the prop room with a sprinkler installed sustained much less fire damage than the second room. Sprinklers are not designed to suppress all fires, but help to create a safety corridor so that occupants can evacuate. The fire department should always be notified in fire emergencies by calling 9-1-1.

The Camas-Washougal Fire Department began hosting the annual Health & Safety Fair Open House in 2001. This is the first year that Washougal High School students are involved in constructing the prop rooms for the community event. “We hope to do this again next year,” said Mansell.

Information provided by Washougal School District.