Lafourche schools ready for more fire testing

Lafourche Parish firemen believe the parish’s schools are safer now than they’ve ever been.

Speaking at the school board’s regularly scheduled board meeting last Tuesday, Lafourche Parish Fire District No. 1 Chief Todd Detillier detailed a drill that took place on June 12 at Raceland Upper Elementary.

With the drill complete, the consensus among firemen and school officials is that officials are better equipped to handle any situation that may arise at a parish school.

“We had 80 people show up for this drill,” Detillier said. “Many of the people were from other neighboring fire departments. It’s the first time in this parish that the people in our parish came together to do something like this. It was fascinating. I think it’s safe to say we all learned a lot.”

The drill was set up like a real-life fire that would have taken hold in the school’s cafeteria.

From there, personnel rushed into the building and were given a surprise.

“We took it a step further,” Detillier said. “When we got in, we were told that there were four kids missing and one adult missing. We took it and made a real-life situation out of the whole ordeal.”

Using training techniques and other rescue tactics, the firemen navigated throughout the three stories of the school and rescued everyone – as they would aim to do in a real-life fire.

While there was no one in actual danger in the event, Detillier said the entire event was an eye-opening experience.

“We have five of your schools in our district,” Detillier said. “We really appreciate you all letting us use the schools. … We appreciate you all letting us get familiar with the infrastructure with the schools.”

Lafourche Parish Superintendent Jo Ann Matthews agrees.

She said that she was grateful to have the fire department’s support. Matthews added that the officers’ willingness to learn should make all parents sleep safer at night knowing that if tragedy strikes, skilled professionals will not be far away to remedy the problem.

“I just want to say that although this helps the fire department in their training, it also helps us as a school system,” Matthews said. “You guys have given us a certificate of appreciation, but I just want you to know that we appreciate you for being willing to enter our facility and taking the time to learn what our schools look like.

During the address, Detillier asked the school board to have free reign over in the future.

“Anything you need, just let us know and we’ll be happy to oblige,” Matthews said.