14 DAY TRIAL // When it comes to teaching students how to deal with fires, most schools settle for run-of-the-mill evacuation drills, maybe a video and a speech delivered by a qualified firefighter.
Not in China, though. Here, they actually make students experience what it's like to have to face flames and do your best to live to tell the tale.
As shown in the photos and the video accompanying this article, students are made to run through hoops set on fire and deal with smoke getting in their eyes and intense heat.
They are even taught the proper way to use a fire extinguisher to put out a blaze. It might sound a bit too much, but it makes great practice.
“We don’t want to leave anything to chance, to make sure that students are prepared for all eventualities in the event of a fire,” said fire brigade spokesperson Chen She, as cited by Oddity Central.
True, not all schools embrace such Spartan ways to train their students how to deal with fires. Still, even small blazes are often used in fire drills in this country.
The students are never in any real danger
This fire drill during which students were asked to run through hoops set ablaze took place earlier this year at the Nanhu Vocational School in China's Hongkou District.
“This was obviously a bigger event than usual but schools do often have actual fire in the demonstrations,” a student wished to emphasize.
The demonstration is nothing like what we are used to, yet the folks who organized and oversaw it reassure that the students were never in any real danger.
They were given napkins to hold over their mouth when running through the flames to avoid smoke inhalation, and firefighters were on standby ready to intervene.
Besides, as soon as the demonstration was over, all the fires were put out.
