On beautiful Monday last month, 23 enthusiastic kids and staff came from Dots Childcare to Martinborough Fire Station for a tour and demonstration.
After a caution about what to do if the siren went off during their visit, the kids had an opportunity to climb into the crew compartment one of our two fire trucks. It can be a bit scary even with their parents helping so about half the children jumped onboard. All the kids are now on our list to be actively recruited in around 15 years.
To demonstrate the fire engine in action, the kids were taken to the grass around the back of the fire station where the engine was hooked up to the hydrant so they could see how the water comes out of the ground for firefighting. Wayne Thomas controlled the pump on the fire truck and Justin Hudepohl and Sarah Hullah showed how fire hoses are used, this time knocking down targets and making some rather big puddles that one of the kids in particular was quite keen to get into.
At this point a number of the questions were coming from Dots staff: “How hard is it to hold the hose; is it heavy?”; “How long are your shifts?” (Answers: Not too heavy or hard to handle unless using foam, which involves compressed air; and we do not have shifts, all of us are always on call). This being more than just a passing interest from a few of the staff they were quickly encouraged to attend any of our Tuesday night training sessions to see if they think the fire brigade might be for them. People who are available for daytime callouts are very valuable to the Brigade.
Wayne wrapped up the day with a hands-on display of our First Aid kit, the only disappointment being that our sticky plasters do not have pictures on them.
The three firefighters thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the kids and staff and hope that if they ever are in a position to need help, seeing Justin at six foot two inches in heavy firefighting gear won’t be so scary.
Since the last report, the Brigade has responded to 7 medical calls, three fire related calls, 2 rural vegetation fires and a hazardous materials spill.
Now that the clocks have leaped ahead, it’s time to test smoke alarms, even if they are mains powered and monitored. If battery powered, change to fresh ones. Ask some one in the Brigade if you need assistance.
