Station 1 Tour

The littles have been really interested in going to visit places that they haven't been before, and exploring things that they've read or seen on shows. Lately, they've asked to see a real firestation, so I called the local fire department and set up a tour to see Station 1. The firefighters were all very welcoming, and answered all of the questions that the kids had. We first went upstairs to see the dispatch area, the kitchen, and the tables where the firefighters eat. An interesting thing that we learned is that they all work shifts that are 24 hours on/48 hours off, which would mean that they are working either 48 or 72 hours a week. We also learned that the firefighters all eat their on-shift meals together. They each pay into the food fund at the beginning of the week, and take turns cooking for the whole crew.

Checking out the fire truck

Getting behind the wheel

Click on through to see and read more...

We then went downstairs to see the trucks. The kids were all very interested in getting into the engine and checking out the buttons, seats, and steering wheel. We were also able to check out the ladder truck and all of it's equipment, but didn't get to climb into it.

Ladder truck

What's that?

One of the most exciting parts of our visit is when the alarm went off and we were able to watch two firefighters slide down the pole, get into the engine, and zoom out of there with lights and sirens on!

Alarm is ringing!!

For the last part of our tour, we watched a firefighter get suited up in all of his gear. He showed us how he had to put everything on in a certain order to make sure that he was protected from burns. He also put on his oxygen tank so that we could hear what it sounds like when he breathes through the mask.

Getting geared up,

Almost dressed,

Ready to go!

We were all pretty impressed by our firehouse visit, and it also opened up a great opportunity to talk about fire safety with the kids. I'm thinking that we just might make this a yearly visit (and the boy thinks we should go twice a year!), although next year we'll have to go on a day other than Monday so that we can also visit the Central Ohio Fire Museum next door.