Busy week for firefighters
TRURO - Truro Fire Chief Tom Bremner is expecting things to get rather busy next week, even if his trucks don't turn a wheel.
"I think we're booked pretty solid every day," he said, of the planned annual invasion of little people to the Truro fire station.
Oct. 5 to 11 is Fire Prevention Week, a period when pre-school youngsters and elementary students far and wide turn out in droves at their community fire stations to inspect the sparkling gear and brightly coloured, gleaming trucks with all their bells, whistles and polished chrome.
Adding a little water into the mix never hurts either.
"The kids are just beaming," Bremner
To hold a hose with water flying out of it is like going through a mud puddle for a dog."
Bremner actually welcomes the visits by the impressionable students, who are often accompanied by a parent, because it offers an opportunity for young and old alike to see the firefighters in a different light then when they are responding to an emergency.
"I think the kids have a genuine excitement about police and fire and ambulances. So, I think it fulfills that historic part of growing up," he said, of the firehouse tours.
"What it does beyond that, it gives them an awareness that firefighters are their friends, because they see us without our uniforms, they see us without our firefighting gear on, they see us in a professional light, they see us in a friendship where they can actually approach us without being nervous or scared or noises and sirens."
For accompanying parents the visits help to refresh information they may have learned at an earlier age but have forgotten because it was never used, he said.
"So it goes way beyond the kids."
Bremner also believes that education surrounding fire prevention is so important it should be included as a weekly lesson in the school curriculum, instead of as being highlighted for one week of the year.
But, even holding class discussions once a month or regularly chatting about fire prevention issues around the dinner table would help, he said.
"Just talking about it and being conscientious about it, is a huge step in the right way," he said.
"People need to make sure their children know the dangers and keep instilling that until they get to the age that..., they should be responsible."