Apii Te Uki Ou are among the first Cook Islands students to be involved in a campaign for readiness and preparedness for fires.

Fire Emergency New Zealand community readiness and recovery advisor Nick Linton is on Rarotonga for the next week, and with his colleague Mirren Allan, is undertaking school visits, talks to disability groups, the installation of smoke alarms for the hard of hearing, and training with local crews.

A number of fire officers, including Linton and Allan, were on hand at Appi Te Uki Ou on Monday.

All students at the school were provided a fire safety brochure, specific to Rarotonga, and produced in cooperation with Cooks fire authorities.

All brigades had input into the project, it is historic for the Cooks, Linton said.

“It is the first community campaign.”

New Zealand fire staff would “kickstart” the campaign, as historically they had been involved with training around firefighting and emergency vehicles, he said.

The concept came about after the Cook Islands National Disability Council reached out to Fire Emergency New Zealand.

“From our point of view we are training firefighters to deliver education, give them skillsets; we provide them expertise, then they roll it out and continue the community education.”

Puaikura Fire Brigade chief officer Jason Moorfieldsaid it was about going into schools and sharing the fire safety message with students, who in turn, could take that message home to their families.

The crews will visit several school on Rarotonga this week.