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"There are simply too many schools and day care centers here for us to get to all those interested in a week's time, so we'll be visiting them or they'll be visiting the station throughout the month," he said.
The week's activities began today when approximately 65 children from 3-5 years old from the Easthaven Day Care Center came to the station. Students from the First Baptist Day Care Center are scheduled to visit the station Wednesday.
The fire truck will travel to the Juvenile Rehabilitation Center Thursday to give children there fire safety tips.
Later in the month, approximately 70 students from Enterprise Attendance Center kindergarten classes will visit the station Oct. 14 with a Boy Scout troop making a stop there Oct. 20. Kindergarten classes from Faith Presbyterian Church will visit the station Oct. 27.
The last scheduled event is Oct. 29, when approximately 76 students from Loyd Star will tour the station, he said.
"We're still getting calls so we'll probably be doing that and a lot more throughout the month," Watts said.
Whether children visit the station or the truck comes to them, the most important element to the activity is stressing fire safety, Watts said.
In Lawrence County, Fire Chief Wayne Harrison agreed.
During the visits, Harrison said, the students are taught to stop, drop and roll if fire catches them and to understand the family's or school's emergency evacuation plan.
To drive home his point, Harrison said he tells the children to try an experiment - go into the center of their bedroom, turn off the lights, spin three times, close their eyes and try to get out of the room.
"You really don't know your bedroom like you think you do," he said. "If something happens, you can be easily confused. People think fire is a lot of light, but its actually very dark with all the smoke coming down - even during the day."
According to the fire chief, safety is especially important for Lawrence County children this year because incidents involving fire have increased.
"Monticello has had more runs this year than we have ever had. And it's countywide, too," he said.
Most of the increase is in grass fires caused by dry conditions, Harrison said, but the number of house fires appears to have increased also. Most of the house fires have been accidental.
He said children from Monticello Baptist Church Day Care are visiting the fire station tomorrow and firefighters will take the truck to Monticello Elementary School Thursday to spark students' interest.
Some Monticello Elementary students visited the station last week for a tour because they would not be able to participate in Thursday's activities, Harrison said.
"That's all we have so far," he said. "We're hoping some teachers or other day care centers will get in touch with us to schedule more visits."
Harrison recommended adults check their fire alarms at least monthly.
