ST. LOUIS – The new fire safety training trailer for the St. Louis Fire Department is almost like something you’d find on a movie set or at Disneyworld.

The safety training will be used to educate children in the city of St. Louis.    

“For the stove, you press the off button, and it slowly dies down,” said Captain Leon Whitener from the St. Louis Fire Department. “What we’re teaching residents to do is shut the door and cut the power if you have an oven fire, so the fire does not go beyond the oven.”

In a city filled with reminders of fires past, the St. Louis Fire Department is finding a creative way to educate children and the public on how to prevent fires and put them out.

“We really want you to get out,” Whitener said. “But if you do have a fire extinguisher,  that’s our digital prop as well.”

It’s not a real fire but a simulation, and all part of the St. Louis Fire Department’s brand-new state-of-the-art fire safety training trailer.

The $300k, part of the FEMA assistance to firefighter’s grant, will provide the fire department with features to help convey the message of fire safety.

“We have an Edith drill; you’ll see the window and a ladder,” Whitener said. “It’s called Edith, exit drills in the home.”

The 34-foot-long trailer comes equipped with an “Edith” exit drill in the home escape window, a heating door with safe smoke and interactive kitchen props simulating toaster and trash can fires.

The room fills with heat and smoke. The severe weather package includes a realistic fire safety room that feels like a tornado is overhead.

“It’s important for our children to go through these steps in a non-emergency way to be prepared for real-life emergency situations,” Whitener said.