WKBT La Crosse, WI-NewsChannel 8-Fatal Fire Serves as a Safety Reminder

Fatal Fire Serves as a Safety Reminder

Members of the La Crosse Fire Department are still grieving for 6-year-old Angelo Poppe.  "We all have children, and unfortunately when we see that child, we think about that...we put the face of our child on that child's face and it hits us at home just like it does everybody," says Captain John Helfrich of the La Crosse Fire Department about the firefighters reacting to the incident.
    
Although the La Crosse Fire Department goes to many schools in the area to educate children about fire safety, an incident like this makes them wonder if they could have done more.  "You really do feel bad about it because we did lose a young boy, and you wish that...you know..."could I have done this? Could I have done that?...talked to him...talked to him while he was in school," Helfrich added.
    
Poppe was supposed to attend kindergarten at Southern Bluffs Elementary School in the fall.  Southern Bluffs has been down this road before, having experienced five student deaths in the past seven years.  "It's always difficult when you lose a child, and for those of us who have the opportunity to work with children in a school setting, when we lose a student it's especially humbling to know how quickly that relationship can come to an end," says Southern Bluffs Elementary Principal Mary Lin Wershofen.

To help detour young children who play with fire or seem to be fascinated with it, the La Crosse Fire Department has a Juvenile Firesetters Program that evaluates and educates children and their parents, to prevent any more fires.  The program has been around for 18 years, and on average, about 40 kids go through the program every year.

La Crosse Fire Officials are seeing some success with their fire education program.  The number of fires set by children in the city of La Crosse has gone down significantly in the past ten years.