ARDMORE, Ala. (WHNT) — Cedar Hill Elementary School in Ardmore spent the day making sure that every child and their family had a working smoke detector for their home.
Fire Prevention Day comes in the wake of a heartbreaking fire in August that killed 6-year-old student Jaydin Daly and his father, Dakota Daly.
The day was held in honor of Jaydin as his classmates and the entire community continue to process and overcome his loss.
The passing of Jaydin inspired a day-long education for students and parents on fire safety and prevention.
“When you think about something this horrible that happened, your heart breaks and it breaks not just for the family but for anyone that has interacted with that child,” Cedar Hill Principal Nona Adams said. “You don’t want to make things sadder, so you just try to figure out a way to keep that from ever happening again.”
According to the mother, Jennifer Griffin, the family woke around midnight when the entire home was filled with smoke. The father, Dakota, died while attempting to save Jaydin. Griffin and two of her children survived.
The school collaborated with Ardmore Fire & Rescue, who involved the Alabama Fire College and Congressman Dale Strong.
Strong said that it was heartbreaking to learn that the Dalys did not have a working smoke alarm in their home.
“This school has experienced a tragic loss of a student and of a father in a fire. This is a large extended family and what they are doing is being sure that no other family is affected like that again,” said Strong. “You think of a father going back in and attempt to save the son that was a student here at this school. We’ve seen it more than once but again and the big thing is understanding what to do when there is a fire in your home. Being sure that you’ve got protective methods of a smoke detector in every home. We want to be sure that people understand that.”
Strong called the father a hero for his attempt to save his son from the fire.
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