ANTI-FIRE WEEK

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32073, 22 August 1969, Page 7

ANTI-FIRE WEEK

School Poster Scheme As part of National Fire Prevention Week, which begins on September 22, schoolchildren throughout the Christchurch area will take part to a poster colouring campaign. About 20,000 children to the Standard 1 to Standard 4 group from 80 schools will be asked to colour the posters as a class project, with the view to displaying the best of them to shop windows. The campaign, being organised jointly by the Christchurch Fire Brigade and the Number One Christchurch Round Table, has the backing of the Department of Education, the Canterbury Education Board, and the Canterbury Headmasters’ Association.

Distribution of the posters, depicting a burning house with two young children standing in night attire outside, began on Tuesday and is being done by brigadesmen. A central figure of the week, “Burny Kiwi,” who advises children not to play with matches, is also prominent on the poster. The poster display will be the major project of the week on the part of the Christchurch Fire Brigade. “We will direct the whole programme largely at the children. They have fertile minds and take to more than adults. If we carry out the scheme wholeheartedly we should have hundreds of coloured posters dotted round the suburbs,” said Mr F. W. Hardy, the Chief Fire Officer. During the week fire appliances will visit the schools and give demonstrations and firemen will talk to the children about the importance of fire prevention.