<strong>By: Oakhurst</strong>

Recently, members of the George Fire Department, together with staff from Oakhurst Insurance, visited schools situated in various communities along the Garden Route, to offer instruction on fire safety, and simultaneously also distributed fire blankets to attendee school children.

The tour started in Uniondale at Avontuur Primary School, Haarlem Secondary School, Diep Rivier Primary School, Kommandantsdrifts Primary School and Dirk Boshoff Primary School before moving onto Wilderness where they visited Hoekwil Primary School, and the Touwsranten Primary School. The excitement was tangible as the fire engine arrived at the schools, and the cheering children welcomed their firefighting heroes.

<img class="alignleft size-large wp-image-139371" src="https://www.cover.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Image-3-–-Children-from-Haarlem-Secondary-School-proudly-showing-off-their-new-fire-blankets._result-600x450.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="450" />A total of 1 500 blankets were donated to the cause by Oakhurst Insurance and a Swiss business partner. The George Fire Department’s Platoon Commander, Santa Sternsdorf gave well received instructions on general fire safety tips in and around the home, and also very professionally demonstrated exactly how to utilise the fire blankets. On completion of the instruction, children received Certificates confirming their attendance of the course along with a fire blanket, and a fire safety information pack.

“<em>We remain committed to the continuous support of our awesome George Fire Department and applaud the fire blanket initiative. A fire blanket is a simple item but is highly effective in extinguishing fires and can save many lives, particularly in remote areas where Fire Departments may not be close by. </em> <em>As important as the distribution of blankets and fire safety instruction was however, what was just as profound was the massive benefit of building bridges and growing relations between different segments of our communities. Despite it being rather cold and wintry at the time of our visits, we always left with a newly found warmth after each and every engagement.”</em>said Peter Grindlay, Managing Executive of Oakhurst Insurance.

Acting Chief Fire Officer Neels Barnard thanked everyone involved, saying “<em>We are extremely grateful to Oakhurst Insurance for their continued support and especially for their donation of blankets that were handed out to children in the area as part of this fire blanket drive</em>”.

<strong>Watch the highlights video here: <a href="https://youtu.be/EYB6cI5YEuU" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://youtu.be/EYB6cI5YEuU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1564649855137000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE-4celhTPHi8hqK_itmxFkFmzTdg">https://youtu.be/EYB6cI5YEuU</a></strong>