By Camille Cox | Staff Writer
Baylor’s Department of Public Safety hosted its annual ‘Sic ‘Em for Safety’ event for students from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday on Fountain Mall.
Filled with free food, T-shirts, games, fire demonstrations and showcases of local first responders, DPS held the event celebrating National Preparedness Month.
George Nuñez, director of emergency management, said DPS puts the event on annually. This includes the Baylor Police Department, Emergency Management and Fire Safety, Parking and Transportation, Technical Security and Global Safety and Security.
“We are so proud to have a night where we are able to come together and have our largest event ever,” Nuñez said. “It is our goal in DPS to be able to have an interactive day where we are able to have our on-campus and our off-campus partners come together, so people can become familiar with each other in a non-incident, non-emergency scenario.”
Throughout the event, students had the chance to learn how to use a fire extinguisher, put on a firefighter’s uniform and practice a relay.
Students were also given the opportunity to speak with representatives from organizations like the American Red Cross, McLennan County Sheriff’s Office, Waco Fire Department, American Medical Response, Waco Police Department and Waco-McLennan County Office of Emergency Management.
After learning about safety, students could choose to stay and relax with a free Kona Ice treat or try axe-throwing with the Waco Axe Company.
“What we’re showing tonight with the fire extinguishers is a training we do with a lot of Baylor employees, but also with all of the CLs,” Nuñez said. “During the summer, all of the CLs go through this hands-on training.”
Amman, Jordan, freshman Dana Azzouka said she participated in the fire training relay in which students could suit up in the firefighter’s protective gear, carry a hose down the field and then run back with a weighted dummy.
“It was very heavy, but I liked the experience because it taught me how passionate and strong our firefighters are, so it was an eye-opener for me about how much they sacrifice to save others,” Azzouka said. “This event is amazing because it makes us future leaders.”
Grapevine senior Shawn Samuel said he originally came to the event to see the fire demonstration of a burning dorm room.
“This is a great way to bring awareness on how to be trained properly in emergencies such as a fire,” Samuel said.
Michael Marascia, associate director of emergency management and fire safety, said the fire demonstration allowed students to understand the importance of both preventing and reacting to a fire.
“In order for us to teach our new freshman class the seriousness of taking those dorm rules and standards seriously, we are going to demonstrate how quickly a dorm room can go up,” Marascia said. “You’ll be able to see how quickly from a fire in the trash can, how it starts and how quickly the entire room gets fully engulfed.”
“We try to use, more or less, just the fuel that would be inside a dorm room: a bed with a set of sheets, a couple posters on the walls, a set of curtains and usually a wooden desk or cabinet on one side,” Lt. Eric Riser of the Waco Fire Department said. “The main thing is to show that smoke is the deadliest thing that’s going to happen here, well above the fire. Smoke is fuel.”
Students who were unable to go to the event can download the BU Campus Guardian app, which turns a smartphone into a personal safety device. The app includes two-way texting with police, photo-sending abilities and confidential tipping.
