A morning at the playground turned into an opportunity to rescue neighbors from a fire.

Six students in the early Head Start program at Pathstone in Coaldale and their three teachers were returning to the center from the playground for lunch when they saw smoke coming from a neighboring house on Phillips Street. Carolyn Kupinsky, one of the teachers, said the smoke looked like it was coming from the roof, but they couldn't tell for sure. The house is located behind the center across the street."The air smelled really acrid," Kupinsky said.Another teacher, Krystal Bradford, ran across the street to see where the smoke was coming from. She saw that it was coming from the basement.While the third teacher, Shannon Kalfas called 911, Kupinsky said she ran to the door of the house and knocked on it to see if the older woman who lives in the house was home."I know the lady who lives there," she said. "She didn't realize it was coming from her house."The woman ran back into the house to get her adult son, who was sleeping upstairs. Fortunately, they were able to get out safely.Firefighters from Coaldale Borough and surrounding departments came to the scene and extinguished the fire. Kupinsky said she was told that the fire started with a malfunctioning boiler in the basement of the house. She was told it could have been much worse, because the boiler could have emitted carbon monoxide, which the residents never would have known was happening.Kupinsky said the 2- and 3-year-old children were paying very close attention to what their teachers did and what the firefighters were doing. They were concerned about the people in the house. To ease their fears, the teachers turned it into a "teachable moment," she said. "We always tell them, 'If you see something wrong, you have to call 911 or let an adult know about it.' "The center notified the parents about the fire next door."We saved the people," Kupinsky said the excited children told their parents when they arrived to pick up their children. "They were extremely proud of themselves."As a reward, the children were invited to the Coaldale Fire Department to see the firetrucks and meet the firefighters. They took them up on the invitationrecently. Kupinsky said Second Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Soberick commended the children, and they had an opportunity to climb all over the firetruck and learn about how the equipment works.