Yesterday, my mom's group planned an outing to go to the local fire station. I figured that this would be a fun outing for Brady because what boy doesn't love a firetruck? When we got there, they had us in a room and showed all the kids the equipment that they put on to go into a fire. One of the firemen put on each piece while the other fireman explained why they wear each piece. They even let the equipment make the sounds it would make to alert them that their compressed air was running low. Brady was a little freaked out by the sound. Once the fireman was completely dressed, he got down on the floor to show the kids how to crawl in their home if there was ever a fire. He then encouraged the kids to touch his equipment while he was down on their level. I tried to set Brady down, but he was freaked out because he couldn't see the man's face anymore. Every time I asked if he wanted to touch him, he started to cry. He was happy when the fireman took off his mask and started to take off the rest of the equipment. He said that dry it weighs about 50lbs and when wet, can reach 80lbs.
We then went into the small museum they have at the firehouse. The kids weren't allowed to touch anything, so I knew it was going to be hard keeping a hold on Brady. They had all kinds of old firetrucks and even had mirrors on the ceiling so you could see into the trucks. Brady was fond of the ceilings because he could wave to himself. Pictured below was Brady's favorite old firetruck. Can you guess why? Yep, it's because of the puppy ;) This firetruck was the oldest they had and was from 1880 and was originally pulled by horses. The fireman told us that they had dalmatians with them because all kind of dogs would chase the wagon and the "fire dogs" were used to help keep other dogs away.
We then got to go out to the current trucks and the kids got to climb inside. Brady has a hard time waiting and was very impatient to get inside. When he did, he was in heaven. He was walking around, playing with everything. He was the only kid who almost climbed into the front seat and one of the firemen had to retrieve him. Only my kid ;)
When he got down from the truck, he became very interested in the poles that the firemen occasionally use to get down from the second floor quickly. He tried climbing up it when he saw the older kids doing it. I lifted him up once and showed him how they slide down. Then both of the firemen with us went up and showed the kids how they do it all the way at the top.
The last thing was a little animated fireman movie. Brady was more interested in the blinds on the windows. The firemen told us that they work 24 hour shifts and after 3 shifts (MWF), then they get 4 straight days off. Not a bad deal. They kept telling us where we should stand if they got a call and that they're always prepared. As we were watching the movie, the did get a call and one of the firemen with us had to leave. He said that the most they've ever had in a 24 hour shift was 98 calls! That's crazy, even when you consider they take EMS calls. When we left, Brady got a plastic fireman hat and he LOVED it.
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