Jay-Day draws families for safety tips, summer activities

Fun with fire safety at the Lake of the Ozarks

Children ask a representative from the Missouri Division of Fire Safety questions about home fire safety Saturday in Lake Ozark, Mo.
Children ask a representative from the Missouri Division of Fire Safety questions about home fire safety Saturday in Lake Ozark, Mo.

LAKE OZARK, Mo. -- Terri Van Klavern wants to make sure no children lose their lives to home fires like her granddaughter Jayden Ling did in 2006.

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AP

Tennessee Coach Lane Kiffin was reprimanded Monday for criticizing SEC officials after Saturday’s game against Alabama. It was the second time this season Kiffin was sanctioned for violating league rules.

So, for the past eight years, she has shared her family's tragic story with local families to illustrate the importance of fire safety. The annual Jay-Day event last Friday at the Lake Ozark Fire Station marked the eighth year in a row she has done so.

Ling passed away at age 11 while trying to save her mother and grandmother from a burning house.

"I thought I knew everything I needed to know about fire safety, as did my daughter and my granddaughter. As a matter of fact, little Jayden had completed fire safety at school just before our fire," Van Klavern told the group of 30 or so in attendance. "Who would have guessed that on Nov. 7, one week later, she would literally use her training and in fact save lives but lose her own?"

Van Klavern explained all the mistakes she and her family made, which she has identified in retrospect, that contributed to their fire's tragic results - not verifying where everyone was sleeping and identifying an escape plan, failing to recognize the danger of their situation after an electrical fuse blew, throwing water on electrical fire, underestimating the speed at which fire spreads and reentering the burning house after evacuating.

Now, after losing her daughter and granddaughter to the fire, Van Klavern offers community members a list of what to do and not do in the case of a fire - "do nots" such as opening a bedroom door, relying only on smoke detectors, blocking windows and assuming someone will save you, as well as "dos" including sleeping with the bedroom door closed, making sure bedrooms have windows, formulating a fire escape plan, keeping a cell phone next to the bed and doing a head count before bedtime.

After participating in the fire training, Jay-Day attendees enjoyed a free lunch, pool party at Rockwood Resort, bounce house, games at the Lake Ozark Live stage, skee ball at Dogpatch Arcade and a ride on the Tom Sawyer boat.