"SANUSI THE FIRE MAN"
Adamu’s brother, sanusi, has joined the fire brigade. He is a fire man. He has a special uniform and a steel helmet to protect his head. His brigade has two new red fire engines. They contain long hoses and a machine for pumping water on to fires.
Every morning sanusi practices with the hoses. He a;lso learns how to climb up ladders quickly and rescue people from tall buildings. For part of everyday sanusi has to go into a classroom. The instructor teaches them about fire.
‘wood and plastic burn very fast,’ said the instructor one day. ‘petrol catches fire very quickly than kerosene. Metal will only burn if it is heated to a very high temperature.
Stone and bricks don’t burn. Sometimes fire start because two electric wires are touching each other, if you are dealing with an electric fire, you must be very careful to switch off the electricity before you touch the person who is burnt,’
What can you do if a person’s clothes catch fire?’ asked sanusi
‘That’s a good question.’ Said the instructor. ‘if there’s a lot of water around you can push the person to the ground and throw water over them
Or you grab a blanket, a wrapper or a curtain and wrap the person in it. This stops the air from getting into the flames. Fire needs air if you can keep the air away fire will go out.’
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After several months sanusi’s basic training was over. Now you can go out to a fire next time we have a call,’ said the chief fireman. The next day the phone rang. ‘fire 126 market road. Come quickly,’ said the caller. Sanusi and the other firemen raced to the fire engine. One man drove very fast, the siren on the engine began to ring.
They raced through the street until they reached the fire. sanusi held the hose and another man put the other end into a nearby stream. The pump started to work. A third man climbed up the ladder to see if anybody was inside the house. He rescued an elderly lady.
He carried her over his shoulder as he climb down the ladder, soon the fire was out,
‘How did the fire start?’ asked the chief fireman.
The maid was cooking in the kitchen,’ said the owner of the house. ‘she put some oil in the electric stove and forgot about it. When she returned, there were flames coming out of the pan. She was foolish, instead of putting a lid over the pan she tried to carry it outside.
A cloth caught fire, and then the door started to burn,’ he went on. ‘Thank you for putting out the fire, you have saved my property.’ Soon the fire engine drove away, ready to go to another fire.