ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY THE SOMERS RECORD (10-18-18)
Last Saturday the Somers Volunteer Fire Department held an open house, where they invited residents to come over and take a closer look at what they do and how they do it. I brought the ever-furry Gidget-the-dog with me, to see if she might take to the lifestyle and consider becoming a firedog. Sometimes a firehouse has a Dalmatian with a lot of dots on it, and when you connect the dots it forms a dog. But I didn't see one there, so I thought maybe Gidget might volunteer, if I could teach her to slide down the fire pole. The members served lunch, had some activities for the kids and answered questions.
The firemen executed a "controlled burn," where they construct a small room, fill it with furniture, light it ablaze and then extinguish it in front of the crowd. Before starting the demonstration they made an announcement to remind residents to change their smoke alarm batteries and to get their chimneys cleaned. So if you haven't done those two things, now is the time. I'm often unable to start a fire in my fireplace, let alone my chimney. The only place I can get a decent fire going is in my toaster, meaning that my toast, once again, is toast.
The four firefighters in full protective gear trained the hose on the conflagration in a swirling motion, starting on the ceiling and working down through the room. The blaze was so hot that when the first man went to the back, the next man up moved forward. Soon all that was left was a smouldering mess, not unlike Kim Kardashian after a keg party. There are three things that I noticed during this demonstration. The first thing that struck me was that the couches used in the burn room were so ugly, it's a wonder no one thought of torching them before this. Way back in the quality control room of the furniture factory, some worker named #11 (but everyone calls him #6) should have taken a full can of lighter fluid and doused it right there to put it out of its misery. The second thing I noticed is that even a controlled fire is scary. The room and its contents caught fire so fast, everyone could see that trying to put it out with a fire extinguisher is pointless, and escaping should always be the first thing on your mind. The third thing that struck me was the kid behind me, who hit me with a plastic fireman's hat, possibly on purpose.
There was an open fire truck on display, and firefighter Bill showed me around. I asked him what was in the back, and thank goodness he didn't say, "A lot of hose," a sentence which seems pretty harmless in print, but is much worse when spoken out loud. There were a bunch of fire extinguishers, because they have to different ones for each type of fire, whether it be electrical, grease, flammables or what used to be my toast. There were some other tanks in the rear and I asked if they were oxygen, but Bill said that you do not want to bring more oxygen to a fire. They are filled with just regular fresh air. Where they could possibly find that I have no idea. Not my kitchen, I just finished making a tuna fish sandwich. If you go outside to get some fresh air, that's where all the smokers and vapers are, creating these big clouds of carcinogens. They'll have to wait until some fresh air blows in from Oregon to fill up those tanks.
Bill said that the fire truck is a "tool box on wheels," and they have just about everything in there. They have generators, axes, electric saws, the "jaws of life," jacks and cribbing to secure disabled vehicles, flashlights, blowers, emergency medical apparatus, even equipment to perform an ice rescue. You just don't realize how many different emergencies the Fire Department may be called upon to respond to. There was a case of bottled water in there too, but a fire would have to be awfully small to get down to that option.
There was a ton of smoke coming from behind the truck, and I turned on my phone in case I needed to call the Fire Department, but it was just the lunch grill going full blast. Me and Gidget wandered over for a cheeseburger and fries. By the time we got back to the fire truck kids were sitting at the driver's seat for a photo-op from their Mom. The Somers Volunteer Fire Department is looking for recruits, so who knows, maybe some of those kids will volunteer one day. We may have to wait until their feet can reach the pedals.
Last Saturday the Somers Volunteer Fire Department held an open house, where they invited residents to come over and take a closer look at what they do and how they do it. I brought the ever-furry Gidget-the-dog with me, to see if she might take to the lifestyle and consider becoming a firedog. Sometimes a firehouse has a Dalmatian with a lot of dots on it, and when you connect the dots it forms a dog. But I didn't see one there, so I thought maybe Gidget might volunteer, if I could teach her to slide down the fire pole. The members served lunch, had some activities for the kids and answered questions.
The firemen executed a "controlled burn," where they construct a small room, fill it with furniture, light it ablaze and then extinguish it in front of the crowd. Before starting the demonstration they made an announcement to remind residents to change their smoke alarm batteries and to get their chimneys cleaned. So if you haven't done those two things, now is the time. I'm often unable to start a fire in my fireplace, let alone my chimney. The only place I can get a decent fire going is in my toaster, meaning that my toast, once again, is toast.
The four firefighters in full protective gear trained the hose on the conflagration in a swirling motion, starting on the ceiling and working down through the room. The blaze was so hot that when the first man went to the back, the next man up moved forward. Soon all that was left was a smouldering mess, not unlike Kim Kardashian after a keg party. There are three things that I noticed during this demonstration. The first thing that struck me was that the couches used in the burn room were so ugly, it's a wonder no one thought of torching them before this. Way back in the quality control room of the furniture factory, some worker named #11 (but everyone calls him #6) should have taken a full can of lighter fluid and doused it right there to put it out of its misery. The second thing I noticed is that even a controlled fire is scary. The room and its contents caught fire so fast, everyone could see that trying to put it out with a fire extinguisher is pointless, and escaping should always be the first thing on your mind. The third thing that struck me was the kid behind me, who hit me with a plastic fireman's hat, possibly on purpose.
There was an open fire truck on display, and firefighter Bill showed me around. I asked him what was in the back, and thank goodness he didn't say, "A lot of hose," a sentence which seems pretty harmless in print, but is much worse when spoken out loud. There were a bunch of fire extinguishers, because they have to different ones for each type of fire, whether it be electrical, grease, flammables or what used to be my toast. There were some other tanks in the rear and I asked if they were oxygen, but Bill said that you do not want to bring more oxygen to a fire. They are filled with just regular fresh air. Where they could possibly find that I have no idea. Not my kitchen, I just finished making a tuna fish sandwich. If you go outside to get some fresh air, that's where all the smokers and vapers are, creating these big clouds of carcinogens. They'll have to wait until some fresh air blows in from Oregon to fill up those tanks.
Bill said that the fire truck is a "tool box on wheels," and they have just about everything in there. They have generators, axes, electric saws, the "jaws of life," jacks and cribbing to secure disabled vehicles, flashlights, blowers, emergency medical apparatus, even equipment to perform an ice rescue. You just don't realize how many different emergencies the Fire Department may be called upon to respond to. There was a case of bottled water in there too, but a fire would have to be awfully small to get down to that option.
There was a ton of smoke coming from behind the truck, and I turned on my phone in case I needed to call the Fire Department, but it was just the lunch grill going full blast. Me and Gidget wandered over for a cheeseburger and fries. By the time we got back to the fire truck kids were sitting at the driver's seat for a photo-op from their Mom. The Somers Volunteer Fire Department is looking for recruits, so who knows, maybe some of those kids will volunteer one day. We may have to wait until their feet can reach the pedals.
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