Life Safety House: Jackson Fire Dept. uses technology to save lives

JACKSON, Tenn. — It is often said education is the key to saving lives, and that is the goal of a first of its kind facility right here in the Hub City.

Firefighters are able to put residents right in the middle of potentially dangerous situations, and although it looks and feels real there’s not really any danger.

“Without the heat and without the hazards, we want you to experience it,” Jackson Fire Department Education Coordinator Rico Bryson said. “So if you had a cooking fire at home, your mind will instantly come back to this facility and you can draw from that experience.”

It is called the “Life Safety House,” and its No. 1 goal is in the name — saving lives.

“We want to get people out of their comfort zone,” Bryson said. “We want them to look at their lives, look back on their homes to see what is unsafe.”

The facility has three rooms with three different experiences. In the kitchen, firefighters will simulate a kitchen fire complete with fire and smoke that looks and feels real.

“I can teach you and I can talk to you all day,” Bryson said. “But when you learn something by putting your hands on it, you’ll never forget it.”

The next room puts people into something many West Tennesseans have heard of but may have never experienced — a tornado.

“We put people in that environment. That way they can sense the severity of what’s to come,” Bryson said.

The facility embraces every sense including touch, simulating a fire behind a bedroom door in the third room.

“What do you do if the door was hot? Most people have not felt that hot door,” Bryson said. “[In] this facility you can feel it and you can see that smoke.”

It is that learning by doing that firefighters hope turns the tables on fire safety.

“If it prevents one fire death, this facility was worth it,” Bryson said.

The Life Safety House was paid for by money the department receives for training sessions they offer. The facility is expected to be fully up and running by June.