California Fire Protection District Uses Robot To Teach Fire Safety
He's Pluggie, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District's newest rookie. He also happens to be -- a fire hydrant.
"He doesn't like dogs, for obvious reasons," said Jojy Smith, fire prevention specialist for the district.
The bright red robot is the highlight of the district's 40-minute fire safety program for students and adults throughout the county. In April, ChervronTexaco and Walmart Antioch donated money to purchase the little guy, who is worth $4,630.
Pluggie recently made his second school appearance, this time at Faith Lutheran Church in Pleasant Hill, where about 80 children in kindergarten through sixth grade learned about fire, how it starts and how to put it out.
During the assembly, the children watched a 15-minute video, "Be Cool About Fire Safety," featuring the voice of Gilbert Godfrey as a loud-mouth smoke detector and Little Richard, as himself, belting out a bluesy number on how to "fall and crawl" out of a fire.
If the youngsters were not familiar with these voices, they perked up when they heard the Mickey Mouse-like prattle of Pluggie, who emerged from the back of the room when the children yelled, "Wake up, Pluggie!"
Once awake, the robot made a couple of disoriented spins and rolled toward his audience. "Why, hello, kids!" he said.
Some children greet him shyly with one hand, while other settled for nothing less than two to catch his attention. Some seemed unsure what Pluggie signified, such as one baffled boy, who called out: "I want to do it."
A few in front reached out to pet him, while others chanted his name as though paying homage to a legendary rock star.
"Pluhhhgeee," they said, lost in the electric glow of robot's bright yellow eyes.
Suddenly, Little Richard's and Godfrey's words of wisdom gained a new value, when Pluggie became the host of a make-shift quiz show. After a few brave and willing students volunteered from the crowd, Pluggie fired a question at each of them.
None of the children failed to answer the questions, which ranged from "What three things do you need to start a fire?" to "Where should you put 911 stickers?" All volunteers were met with Pluggie's celebratory siren that followed a correct answer. They were also rewarded with a goody bag of pencils, rulers and stickers.
Those who haphazardly wore red faced a big surprise, though -- a stream of water from Pluggie, to be exact. Red made the robot a little worried, as some children caught on.
"He thinks it's a fire and he has to put it out," one kindergartner explained
In the end, all of the children seemed confident about how to handle a fire. But many left the assembly pondering the same enigma that 12-year-old Michael Dickson did.
"I still don't know how they get him to talk."