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It was just a half-day at La Conner Elementary School on Friday.

But students there that morning were taught lessons to last a lifetime.

Their special tutors, who joined with classroom teachers to present fire safety tips and lessons, were members of the La Conner Volunteer Fire Department and South Snohomish County firefighter Todd Wigal, whose wife, Katie, is on the La Conner Elementary faculty.

Students viewed a fire safety video, were shown firefighting gear, toured a fire engine and ambulance and took turns rolling and pulling fire hoses.

“This is something we’ve done for the past three or four years,” La Conner Elementary Principal Bev Bowen said. “It was initiated by the parents and it is really important information that the students are receiving.”

Better yet, it’s information that children retain.

Wigal cited the example of a La Conner student who had attended one of the previous programs and later used what had been taught to escape a local house fire.

Wigal first got involved at the behest of his wife, a La Conner kindergarten teacher.

“She asked if I could come in and do a presentation,” he recalled. “She said there was a lot of important information to share.”

Indeed, there is. And because of that Wigal, in turn, contacted La Conner firefighters and asked them to participate, thus expanding the program. Now it’s a 50-minute, multiple station event.

“There are some bullet points we try to stress,” he said. “Those are to have smoke detectors in the home and check the batteries twice a year; plan a family escape route in the event of a fire; and ‘close before you doze,’ meaning to close your bedroom door before you go to sleep at night.

“The smoke detectors are huge,” Wigal stressed. “When you have working smoke detectors, the chances for a positive outcome as opposed to a negative outcome from a fire are much greater.”

La Conner Fire Capt. Adam Avery focused Friday on reminding students that firefighters are their friends and not to be feared when in full bunker gear and less easily recognized. As he donned the various layers of fire retardant gear, and his voice became muffled, Avery showed students that he hadn’t changed identities – he was still the same, still the firefighter and youth sports coach they have come to know.

While fully geared, Avery made it a point to either shake hands or give high-fives to each of the students.

“Make me a promise,” he repeatedly implored of the students. “Don’t hide from us if there’s a fire and we go to your house.”

Wigal, Avery and the other presenters stressed the research-proven proactive “Look, Listen, Learn” approach to fire safety. Students were urged to Look for places fire can start, Listen for the sound of smoke alarms and Learn two ways out of every room.

They pointed out that home fires today burn faster than in the past. In a typical home fire, they said, there may be as little as two minutes to safely escape from the time a smoke alarm sounds.

Knowing how to use that time wisely takes planning and practice, they said.

Their own time with kindergartners and first graders at La Conner Elementary was well spent.

So much so that Wigal and the La Conner firefighters will return this Friday to bring their message to second through fifth graders.