Dialing 911 is a well-known response to an ongoing emergency, but just as important is trying to keep that emergency from happening in the first place.

Guarding against crisis situations is what brought several of the community's first responders to Towamensing Elementary School on Wednesday morning.Towamensing Fire Chief Wayne Knirnschild said it's customary for members of his department to speak to students during Fire Prevention Week to make sure they understand there are ways to prevent blazes from breaking out and what to do in the event of a fire."Candles are the number one cause of fires in a house," he told students. "Make sure you tell your parents to burn them in a sink or even in a bathtub. You'll still get the smell, but if it gets knocked over, it won't catch the place on fire. The goal is to help prevent accidents before they happen."Students rotated between Knirnschild's presentation inside the school and a tour of fire company equipment outside the building including one of its rescue pumpers.Volunteers Stephen Riggio and Ann Bachert explained how the different parts of the vehicle work and followed with a small recruiting pitch."We can use you in the future, whether it's at this fire company or downtown," Bachert told students.One of the newer volunteer firefighters, Palmerton High School sophomore Cody Fronheiser, donned full gear right down to the oxygen tank and crawled around a first-grade classroom to mimic how he would enter a burning building.Fronheiser has been with the department around a month, according to Knirnschild, who said students can join when they enter high school.In addition to his advice on where to burn candles, he said any gasoline cans or tanks for a grill should be stored away from the house.Students were encouraged to talk with their parents about a meeting spot, also away from the house, should it catch on fire."That's important because we then we know if you're not at that spot, you're still inside the house," Knirnschild said. "You don't, however, want that spot to be in the driveway or out near the road because we'll be pulling the firetrucks in there. Smoke alarms are another big thing for me. I've already talked to five or six students who said they don't have them in their house. I don't know why we're getting away from that because they save lives."Teachers said the program was beneficial for the students and reinforced things already discussed in class."Things like knowing what your address is so that firefighters know how to get there in case of an emergency are very important," first-grade teacher Brittany Hunsicker said."Even if it's just enough to get me going in the right direction," Knirnschild said. "But I can't get there if someone says I don't know where I live."