Monday 15th August
The boys in our group love playing games revolving around fire engines and police cars. There is something awe inspiring about a big engine racing to an emergency with its lights and sirens blaring. Whenever my boys spot one on the road or hear a siren in the distance the rest of the days play is centered around fighting fires. Our local volunteer fire brigade have recently opened their brand new station. The old one had to be rebuilt due to earthquake damage. So, we got in touch and organised a visit. This adventure is every boys dream (our husbands were extremely jealous they missed out on this one!).
Fire Sergeant Shane met us at the big doors to the station and led us past all the engines into the new training room. He told the kids about fire safety and informed us parents what we need to know in order to keep our families safe. It was tricky keeping the kids engaged at this point but the information he gave was excellent and we all learnt some valuable tips that we will implement in our homes.
Tips from a Firefighter:
- You can never have too many smoke alarms. You should have one in every bedroom, down the hallways and in every living area. Even your garage should have one. They are your first defense against a fire and at night the more that are going off the more likely you are to wake.
- Make an evacuation plan with your family. Do a fire drill (with the smoke alarm going) and practise getting out to a safe meeting spot. He recommended making your meeting spot your letterbox.
- Practice the drill ‘get low, get down, get out’. He warned that kids are getting this confused with the earthquake safety technique of ‘turtles’ (where they huddle down into a ball and stay stationary). Children tend to get frightened in a fire and hide making it difficult for firefighters to locate them. It’s very important to emphasise to children the importance of ‘getting out’ in a fire.
- Don’t obstruct windows in bedrooms with furniture or toy boxes as this may be your child’s only way out in a fire.
- Never re-enter a burning building.
- Make copies of all insurance documents and other important documentation and have them located in different places. If possible get a fireproof safe.
- When ringing 111 give the operator as much detailed information as possible. This makes the firefighters job easier.
The firefighters at our local station are all volunteers. They train once a week on a Monday night. They have to be ready to go whenever they hear the big siren sound over the community.
Jess modeled the gear firefighters wear when fighting fires. Altogether it weighs 30kgs. It gets very hot in the suit but it protects them from the heat of the fire. Sometimes they cannot tell how hot the fire is until the visor on their helmet starts to melt.
We learnt that there are different trucks for different purposes. One for house and structure fires that is kitted out with ladders, hoses and oxygen tanks, and one for car crashes that has equipment such as the jaws of life and other tools to help people who are trapped in cars or machinery. Plus the water tanker truck.
The kids had a blast sitting in the back of one of the engines pretending to be firefighters.
The firefighters were fantastic, letting the kids touch whatever they wanted and showing us all the gear tucked away in the engines.
The only thing that could have made this my boys dream come true was if there was a real fire to race off to. He kept asking “Where’s the fire? I want to put out a fire.” Boys!
A HUGE thank you to firefighters Shane and Jess for giving us a fantastic interactive tour. It will be a memory for life! The safety advice was invaluable. We are so thankful for all the wonderful volunteer firefighters in Rangiora and all around NZ who give up their time to come to our rescue.
Kate and Mel
Adventure Tip: base adventures around your kids interests.
Adventure Monday 