Ellington Students Participate in Fire Prevention Poster Contest

Hundreds of Ellington children recently participated in a fire prevention poster contest at their schools.

This annual contest is part of the Connecticut Fire Prevention Poster Contest, which attracts more than 30,000 students within over 130 communities throughout the state.

Of the 436 contestants, a winner is selected from both the fourth and fifth grades and those are submitted to the Tolland County Contest. Four county winners are then selected and moved forward to the state-wide contest where a final winner is chosen from the 32 finalists.

The artwork done by that winner is then designed into book covers, posters, and a calendar for the coming year. Each county winner receives a $200 savings bond and the state winner receives an additional $1,000 savings bond.

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For the town contest, each winner receives $50. Second place finishers receive $35, and third place finishers receive $20.

The fourth place winner was Sara Guerette from Center School. The second place finisher was Hannah Bilbie from Center School, and the third place finisher was Claire McMenamin from Center School. Rachel Gerlach from Crystal Lake School received honorable mention.

The fifth grade winner was Grace Dubiel, the second place finisher was Ainsley Armstrong, and the third place finisher was Marissa Chow. All these students attend Windermere School.

According to Fire Inspector Scott Cunningham, fire continues to be a leading cause of death and injury in the United States. Every 2.5 hours, someone in the country is killed in a home fire and thousands more are injured.

He said that children and the elderly are most often the victims of residential fires and these occur most often at night in single-family homes.

Cunningham said that the contest is intended to develop fire safety awareness in children and that it will be communicated to their families and that fire prevention as everyone’s responsibility, everyday will be promoted.

“If participants discuss fire survival issues – such as smoke detectors, alternate means of escape, stop drop roll techniques, and other fire safety practices – we expect that over 1,500 Ellington parents and children gave some meaningful thought to fire safety issues,” he said.

Ellington has been participating in this contest through its Fire Marshal’s Office since 1985 and has had several county winners. The message has reached more than 13,000 Ellington residents in that time.