Brief History Of The Fire Prevention Puppets And Their Handlers

In the beginning, there were puppets. The original idea for the puppets came from a state fire-fighters conference in Juneau, Alaska, back in 1985. In 1987, the newly formed Kalifornski Fire Department, outside of Soldotna, AK, purchased the canned program from Puppet Productions, located in DeSoto, Texas. Firefighter Tom Krueger was the driving force behind obtaining the puppets, with the help of Marv St.Clair, Terry Rude, and John Anderson.

The original puppet set consisted of seven puppets, a VHS training tape, and two prerecorded audio cassettes with scripts. K-Beach Fire Department brought a new look to fire public education, while presenting their program to public and private schools, along with presentations at large Kenai Peninsula functions. In 1989, K-Beach Fire Department merged with Central Emergency Services, forming one large ambulance/fire district. The puppets laid idol for the next three to four years until the newly created Fire Prevention Bureau was formed and headed by Fire Marshal Gary Hale.

He needed to project a new and more proactive style of fire prevention, so the emphasis was placed on educating children. An idea was born for the creation of “Captain Burn-ee”, a fire prevention clown to bring the fire prevention message to elementary school children in a more entertaining way. Several firefighters later suggested the puppet show could be revived and add to Capt. Burn-ee’s presentations, adding a special atmosphere to the children. With the help of two of the original puppeteers and several dedicated volunteers, the puppets were back spreading their whimsical and gentle fire prevention message.

Today, the puppets have grown from the original seven puppets to over 30 “muppet” type puppets. All having names created for them, either from the manufacturer or named by the puppeteers. The original front curtain and stage has been expanded to a fully encompassed stage, allowing the crew to function in the back without restricted space, along with hiding special secrets to the operations of the puppets. The old cassette tape player was replaced with a newer technology, the CD player, connected into a fully operational sound system, along with cordless microphones to address larger audiences. With the original prerecorded audio cassette being used over the years, new material was now a must to keep the program alive. A call to Puppet Productions, the original manufacturer of the puppets, told us that there were no present upgrades, so the bureau went looking for new material. Today, we can select from over 125 songs fire prevention songs at a given notice.

The program expanded to two fire safety clowns in 1996, Captain Burn-ee, with the addition of E.D.I.T.H (stands for: Exit Drills In The Home), a female fire safety clown. The newer up-beat music now required a minimum of 4 puppeteers to have a successful show, consisting of lead and chorus roles for each program presented.

If it weren’t for the volunteers, who have helped and cared about the program, there won’t be any program. The puppeteers in the past and present have consisted of career personnel, on-call (department volunteers), spouses, young explorers, and an occasional relative, who volunteered their time to make the show such a great success.

Today, during the month of October (fire prevention month) and extending into mid-November, the show travels to nearly 16 locations, while performing over 24 shows. The program is presented to public and private schools, senior citizens, day-care facilities, head start schools, and special events within our fire/ambulance district, with an occasional call to go outside our fire district. Each show is designed to last approximately 45 minutes, using puppets and fire safety clowns to bring the message to the students. Usually two shows are scheduled for each school, placing kindergartners and 1 st grades together for the first show, and 2nd and 3rd grades together for the second. Only upon special requests, will we schedule a show to any grade higher than the 3rd grade.

Each location requires about 30-40 minutes to assemble the stage and curtains, install the sound system, hang and assemble the puppets, and finally, last minutes instructions between puppeteers and the clowns. Once the show is over, dismantling the show takes about 30 minutes or less. The show has grown so large that a special fire prevention trailer had to be constructed to house the shows props and equipment. With each passing year and with every performance, more and more innovative ideas crawl into the heads of the puppeteers, to make the show a success.