The Fire Services Open House last Saturday was amazing. I went to check it out with my youngest daughter Violet and we had a great time. When it was time to go she wouldn’t leave. I said, “We need to go home for lunch.” She said, “No we don’t. They have hot dogs right here!”
A pavilion-style tent was set up outside with a fog machine to simulate what visibility is like inside a burning structure. You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. The firefighters had heat-sensing cameras that let you see where the people were through the fog. It’s incredible the difference that those cameras make.
The fire extinguisher training centre had a digital screen that simulated a fire and the fire extinguisher had green laser lights coming from the nozzle. This way the firefighters can teach people how to use a fire extinguisher properly without making a huge mess. My daughter loved this part of the open house.
There was a demonstration showing how they remove someone from a crashed vehicle using the jaws of life and other tools. Western Wheel photographer Brent Calver was inside the vehicle they took apart and got some interesting photos from that perspective. Check out the photo gallery on westernwheel.com.
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I enjoy the clash of politics more than most but the U.S. presidential debate on Sunday was awful even by my standards. When there are a couple hundred million people deciding who will lead them they need more than insults to inform their decision.
