Riverview Firefighters to host open house during cruise festivities
By Bobby Ampezzan, The News-Herald
RIVERVIEW — The city’s firefighters hope to make
their Summerfest open house an annual tradition.
The second annual fire station open house is set
for 3 to 9 p.m. June 24.
The feature attractions last year — the smoke house
and car burns — will undoubtedly prove the most popular activity this
year, too.
The smoke house is a model, two-room house with
doors and a smoke machine inside.
Participants are ushered inside, the smoke machine
is set, and the fire detectors are tripped.
Just as they should do in a real fire, participants
will stay low, feel the doors and doorknobs for heat, and flee the house
if safe.
“If we could (practice) this twice a year,”
Firefighter Jim Rodgers said, “kids would say, ‘Hey, I’ve done this
before. I know what to do.’”
Participants will receive a care package that
includes coloring books, coupons for 7-Eleven Slurpees and McDonald’s
french fries and a plastic firefighters’ helmet.
Firefighters also will set controlled fires in a
couple of prototype cars donated by Ford Motor Co.
Spectators will experience what firefighters do in
the case of a car fire.
“In years past, people have wanted to see real
smoke and flames, and we’re definitely going to put on a show,” Rodgers
said.
The Fire Department will have set aside a fire
truck for people to view, and for use in extinguishing the car fires.
There also will be a model house facade with
painted flames in the windows. Children will be allowed to handle a real
fire hose to “extinguish” the fire.
Children and adults alike can see the dispatch room
and look around the fire station.
They can check out the department’s dive van and
jet skis, used for emergencies on the water, as well as the hazardous
materials truck.
Riverview is the central dispatch station —
coordinating personnel and transporting equipment — for diving and
hazardous materials emergencies in 17 Downriver communities.
The Coast Guard and two
clown troops also will participate in the afternoon’s festivities.
The Coast Guard will land a helicopter on the
soccer fields north of the station. Visitors will be able to look inside
the helicopter and talk with the pilot.
Clowns from the Detroit Fire Department Clown
Brigade, as well as Carey Ann’s Clown Caravan, a clown school in
Riverview, will be on hand to contribute to the fun.
“We are always looking for areas we want to educate
the public,” Rodgers said.
This year, it is about grease fires and fire
extinguishers.
While a quick lesson is prepared for all who come
to the open house, Riverview residents who participate will receive a
complimentary fire extinguisher.
The night also is an opportunity for the public to
educate the Fire Department.
Residents may wish to alert the department to any
special needs their households have. The Fire Department keeps records
of individual houses.
The open house is free to everyone. Local
businesses have contributed to the purchase of fire extinguishers, and
Lowe’s Home Improvement in Southgate has provided discounted fire
extinguishers to the city.
The fire station is on
Civic Park Drive near Young Patriots Park. |
