Knowing how to react in the event of an emergency can greatly improve an individual's chance of survival and avoiding serious injury. Unfortunately, when faced with a catastrophic event, panic can take over making it difficult to calmly assess the situation and make the right choices.

"It's a thousand times easier to remember what to do in the moment with practical training," says John Coish, Fire Prevention Officer for the City of Kitchener Fire Department.

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Introduced one year ago, the Coldwell Banker Peter Benninger Realty Fire Safety House aims at providing that practical training. The 38-foot trailer's interior mimics that of a residence, including bedroom, kitchen and living area. The House simulates emergency situations including, fire with non-toxic imitation smoke, severe storms complete with TV warnings, visual lightning effects and roaring thunder as well as tornado and carbon monoxide crises. Since its debut, Coish says close to 3500 Kitchener students and numerous students from Waterloo have undergone training in the house which has also been featured at many Community events.

According to Coish, the House is a big hit with children, who love the hands on aspect of the training program.

"They like the fake fire, the smoke and learning how to climb out the ladder," says Coish. "Just the feeling and sensing of it helps reinforce what to do in a real emergency."

Coish describes the Fire Safety House as being "incredibly important" to the Fire Safety Program but also credits other teaching tools, such as the Coldwell Banker Peter Benninger Realty Kitchen Fire Simulator, with helping keep the community safe. The Kitchen Fire Simulator is a mobile stage that allows the Fire Department to give live demonstrations on how cooking fires start and spread and the correct ways to extinguish them, as well as when to get out.

The Fire Safety House was financed by the 2010 - 2011 Coldwell Banker Peter Benninger Realty Street Map and Service Guide. Previous editions of the Map Project have helped fund the first generation Fire Safety House and accompanying van which educated more than 100,000 students at schools, malls and the Children's Safety Village between 1993 and 2008. Map Project proceeds have also provided two training vehicles used by the Fire Safety Officers, two Portable Fire Extinguisher Training Units and created the Kitchen Fire Simulator.