Field Trip Day: The Fire Station 17.

Matt had the great idea to take the kids to our local fire station for a tour.  The fireman were so happy to see such cute faces and show the girls around their station.  They explained what a typical day looks like for them, showed them the 3 different engines they have, answered a bunch of questions, and handed out 'honorary fireman hats."  Madeline hoped they would have a real life pole to slide down.  Sophie and Clara were praying that they would not have a dalmatian (both of the girls are scared of dogs.)  They turned on the fire truck's lights for the kids.  Thanks guys for the great tour.    

Some interesting tidbits from the fire station:  

They do in fact have a pole to slide down. The driver of the fire truck is the one who uses it when the alarm sounds.  The rest of the guys use the stairs. The pole has a bucket underneath for safety reasons but when the weight of a person is on it the bucket opens allowing the fireman to slide down.   

When the alarm sounds it takes them less than 1 minute to get their gear on and be in the truck, even at night when they are asleep. {They obviously do not have 4 kids to get out with them!}

When an alarm sounds, all of the lights go on and their appliances go off automatically.  You don't want the fire station to catch on fire!

Our fire station does not have a dog.  Historically, dalmatians ran interference with other dogs so the fire horse could get to where it was going.  Now it is just a tradition.  

The truck carries 1,700 gallons of water and medium size hose disperses roughly 500 gallons a minute.  So they have about 3-4 minutes worth of water supply unless they hook up to a fire hydrant. 

They use soap to help the water not evaporate in house fires.     

They do trainings on old houses that have been donated and a plane at the airport.  

Finding our house on their huge map.  

Posing next to the fire pole.