Grade 10 students watched as the Fernie Fire Department ripped the roof off a damaged Pontiac Sunfire as part of the Elk Valley P.A.R.T.Y. (Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth) Program.
Using a tarp to protect the demonstration victims, including Fernie Academy student Zac Watson, a crew of five fire department employees carefully pried open the vehicle, smashing each window and unhinging the drivers side door in order remove the life-sized dummy positioned behind the steering wheel.
Fernie Academy student Zac Watson suits up for the car rescue demonstration.
“If an air bag goes off while they’re doing this, that air bag goes off as 270 miles per hour,” Fire Prevention Officer Tom Hopkins said during the demonstration. “They have to make this vehicle safe; this vehicle has fuel [and] it has a battery, so it has power to it. They have to be careful.”
The interactive injury prevention program is intended to encourage Grade 10 students to make smart choices, while showing them the consequences of making poor choices.
With graduation just around the corner, 20 Fernie Secondary students, nine Jaffray Elementary/JR. Secondary School students and 11 Fernie Academy students learned about the importance of seatbelt use, the affects of alcohol and drugs and how to prevent injuries.
The Elk Valley P.A.R.T.Y. program is hosted each year