Burlington fire fighters now have an extra piece of equipment on their trucks: teddy bears they can give children that have been traumitized.

By Staff

July 20, 2015

BURLINGTON, ON

When we see a fire truck racing through the streets of the city many voice a quiet prayer and hope that no one is hurt, But people do get hurt in fires – especially children.

They may not have physically harmed but the trauma is not insignificant.

Fire fighters are there to suppress the fire and save as much as they can. The fire fighters have families and they understand how harmed some children are – they see it first hand.

Deputy Fire Chief Ross Monteith, Deputy Fire Chief Karen Roche and Burlington Firefighters Daniel Everett (far left) and Andrew Bourque (far right) joins Aldershot Lions Club members at a special presentation held at the Lions Club meeting earlier this month.

The Aldershot Lions Club recently donated 50 stuffed teddy bears that will be placed on the department’s fleet of fire trucks for on-duty firefighters to give to children involved in traumatic emergency response calls.

“We are grateful to the Aldershot Lions Club for providing us with these teddy bears that will help calm children involved in stressful situations, such as car accidents or home medical calls,” said Deputy Fire Chief Ross Monteith.

The Aldershot Lions Club wanted to partner with the fire department to do something special to help children in our community. The club plans to buy more bears in the future by setting up a public sponsorship program.

“We gave each bear a yellow, hooded sweater printed with the Burlington Fire Department crest and the Lions Club logo,” said Ron Hardy of the Aldershot Lions Club. “We’d like to make the bears available for purchase and use the proceeds to replenish the teddy bear stock on fire trucks.”

For more information about the teddy bears, please contact the Aldershot Lions Club at 289-337-5558 or hardy2504@hotmail.com.