NORWICH – Hundreds of parents brought their children to the Norwich Fire Department’s open house Thursday night to take part in Fire Prevention Week activities, which included operating a ladder truck, a puppet show, hands-on fire extinguisher training and much more.
“Every day is really fire prevention day, but this is the week we get to go out into schools and bring in the public. Our direct contact with them is a great and fun opportunity for us to get our message across,” said City of Norwich Code Enforcement Office Jason Lawrence.
Droves of anxious children darted around their parents’ legs as families lined up for several of this year’s events. Apart from the traditional fire truck rides and puppet show, which drew a large crowd, many waited patiently for their chance to operate the department’s ladder truck.
Piling into the bucket end of the 100-foot long extension ladder, with a trained firefighter, kids and adults played a game of skill using a dangling traffic cone hung from the bottom of the outreached ladder. The object of the game was to move the extension up and down, to and fro, until the hanging cone was above a marked target area on the ground below. Participants then lowered the ladder bucket and the hanging cone to see it they could hit their mark.
“This isn’t something people get to do everyday and we wanted to add something different this year that people could get excited about. Just getting into the thing and being lifted 40 feet off the ground is usually enough to excite most people,” joked one of last night operators, Norwich Fire Captain Jeff Steward.
Another strong attraction at the event was the Preferred Mutual Insurance Company’s child identification program, which also proved popular at last year’s celebration. In addition to free cider and cookies, the company brought with it a private contractor taking children’s biometrics information and creating a profile for parents to use in case of an emergency.
The information includes a number of facts such as height, eye color, even recording fingerprints, which can be handed over to law enforcement if the child ever goes missing or is abducted. The company itself does not keep any of the information. The program is run by Operation Kid Safe of Illinois and they processed 230 children last night and 260 last year.
Each year, the second week of October is designated as Fire Prevention Week and also often accompanying it is a designated national theme, however this year the national fire organization let each department determine its own.
“Each municipality has different problems and concerns. Fire departments in LA might have information on how to deal with wildfires but that’s not something we have to worry much about here,” said Lawrence.
He explained that there were a few local concerns the Norwich Fire Department wanted to draw attention to. The first was aimed at children as “get out and stay out” in case of a fire. The second, aimed at adults, was to remind people to make sure their smoke detectors’ batteries were installed and charged.
Norwich Fire Chief Tracy Chawgo recalled several instances in which firefighters encountered burnt smoke detectors without batteries in them. “It’s one of the easiest things you can do and neglecting it could lead to one of the worst things happening,” he said.
Another area of local concern is the safe installation and operation of wood stoves.
Countryside Stove and Chimney of Oxford was at the station last night with safety handouts and demonstrations involving the maintenance and safe operation of wood stoves.
Around 500 people showed up for this year’s open house.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or would like to help out the fire department, call 334-3411.