TAVISTOCK'S firemen are blazing the trail this week with a fire awareness education campaign for the town's youngsters.
The scheme has been running for a couple of years in areas served by full-time fire stations, but this is the first time for the rural areas served by retained fire services.
Officers from Yelverton, Bere Alston and Princetown will also be visiting primary schools in their areas.
The scheme has been set up by Devon Fire and Rescue, concerned that school children should have the opportunity of learning throughout their school years about the nature of fire and its associated dangers.
Tim Smith, Tavistock's community fire officer, said: 'We're ahead of ourselves here — next year it's going to be mandatory nationwide.'
The 13 primary schools in the area are being targeted and Tim's first job is to contact the headteachers at each of the schools.
Initially the scheme is aimed at two age groups — six and seven year olds and the nines and tens. The children will get to talk to Mr Smith or his colleague Tony Clark and try on the gear. They will also see films and, with the aid of their teachers, work through booklets and worksheets, designed to be both interesting and challenging to the children.
Mr Smith said the youngsters will also get the chance to see him in full breathing apparatus.
'Some children have been frightened by firefighters in breathing apparatus looking and sounding like some kind of alien — they've hidden themselves in cupboards — this will help them understand what's going on,' he said.
The scheme will eventually encompass older children and Mr Smith said the service envisaged a cadet scheme for the future, where people will learn how to deal safely with fires while they are still small, before the professionals arrive.
'It's like first aid — if you can deal with a fire in its early stages then it can stop it getting out of hand,' he said.