Brockport student is Fire Safety Essay winner

Students can learn fire safety lessons from the Great Chicago Fire, 134 years after Mrs. O'Leary's cow is supposed to have kicked over a lantern, causing a "hot time in the old town tonight." Brockport student Ethan Pritchard turned a song his mom used to sing to him into an award-wining fire safety essay. His Frederick Hill School teacher, Tracey Coccitto, challenged Ethan to enter the Monroe County Volunteer Fireman's Association annual essay contest. He wrote how the small fire led to big problems in Chicago. The lesson? Fire safety is a year-round commitment. Ethan, who is 10, likes to learn about fire safety and may someday become a firefighter. First, he'd like a tour of a fire station and a fire truck. "I hear the siren when we go out for dinner. I know it's a hard job, and that they sometimes don't get a lot of sleep." Ethan received a plaque for his winning essay, and is one of 40 winners from Monroe County whose work will be entered in statewide competition. With him in the photo is Mark Warner, past deputy chief of the Brockport Fire Department.