Sudduth Elementary is a school that has been marred by tragedy this winter.
A fire Dec. 28 at Academy Crossing Apartments killed nine people, including two Sudduth students, brothers Jacorian Vasser, 6, and Richard Vasser Jr., 5. Jacorian was in first grade and Richard, also known as “R.J.,” was in kindergarten.
A fire earlier this month at a motel in Hoover, Ala., killed four Mississippi University for Women students, one of whom was the niece of a Sudduth employee. Additionally, three other fires this winter have affected Sudduth students, Principal Elizabeth Mosley said Monday night.
“We decided to do something to really try to prevent this from happening again,” Mosley said.
The Starkville Fire Department held a fire-prevention workshop at Sudduth Monday night with more than 200 parents, students and teachers in attendance. The city”s firefighters hold workshops and visit schools regularly, but the rash of fires this winter has the Starkville Fire Department and the Starkville School District eager to impart fire-prevention tips to the entire community.
“With the events we”ve had recently, one positive event is you have more awareness and hopefully tonight we”re able to get the message out (about fire prevention) so something like this won”t happen again,” Starkville Fire Marshal Mark McCurdy said.
McCurdy and fellow Fire Marshal Stein McMullen, along with Chief Training Officer Charles Yarbrough, demonstrated the proper ways to check smoke detectors and use fire extinguishers, among other life-saving tips.
Smoke detectors should be located inside and outside of each bedroom, between 4 and 12 inches from the ceiling if wall-mounted, and between 4 and 12 inches from the wall if ceiling-mounted. Any closer than 4 inches is “dead” space, McCurdy said.
Fire officials also recommended replacing smoke detector batteries twice a year and putting the devices outside of kitchens, not inside, because they to go off while cooking and people tend to remove the batteries.
Many of the fires to which the Starkville Fire Department responds are cooking fires, McMullen said. Fire marshals advised those in attendance Monday to use a fire extinguisher instead of water on a grease fire and, when using a fire extinguisher, to spray at the base of the flames. People also should keep fire extinguishers right outside the kitchen, not inside where a fire is more likely to start, McCurdy said.
One of the most important things a family can do is establish an escape plan in case of a fire, McMullen said. Even if a residence only has one door, residents should attempt to climb out windows to escape, McCurdy said.
“If you do jump out a second-story window, you may break a leg or it may cause some harm to you, but at least you”re out,” McCurdy said.
Residents also should establish a safe place to meet after escaping from a burning structure.
Heather Chandler, whose daughter Keyunna is in kindergarten at Sudduth, said she learned a lot from the workshop Monday. Her family didn”t have an escape plan, but will come up with one now, she said. And she liked the fire marshals” advice to break a window and climb out in the event of an emergency.
“I think it was really nice how they came together to show us different things I didn”t know,” Chandler said. “I learned a whole lot.”
Chandler also won a new smoke detector as a door prize at the event. The Starkville Fire Department gave away more than 600 free smoke detectors to residents in the week or two after the Academy Crossing fire, McCurdy said, but has since run out.
Mosley, who had grief counselors at Sudduth counseling students after the Academy Crossing fire, said the school has slowly returned to normal. She was thrilled to see so many people attend the workshop Monday night.
“I”m really pleased with the turnout,” Mosely said. “It was great. I learned a lot.”
Fire officials still have not determined a cause of the Academy Crossing fire.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
