Firestation Field Trip

(Much thanks to Kara who painstakingly loaded all these pics! I forgot my camera.)

Yesterday we took a field trip to Fire Station 13 in the heart of Portland. But what made this trip more fun was that this time we knew one of the firefighters. This is the relatively new station home of our friend Scott. He and his co-workers were so kind in showing us everything.


They planned ahead and caused the alarms to go off at the right time, dressed up in full gear just as Scott was finishing up with a section of engine,

and were prepared with questions to ask the kids.


According to the info we got from them (and if I remember correctly), they are on average the 4th busiest in the city of Portland and they go out on several calls a day... I think they said an average of 15 a day! 70% of the calls are medical ones... with very few actually fighting fires... but they showed us how they are ready for anything. We were given a tour of all of their tools and resources.


It's amazing what they can fit inside all the many compartments. they showed us the medical equipment and did vital signs on Colson. One of my highlights was when he was getting that done and Cavan said, "Ummm. Is that the shocker?" He seemed pretty nervous. :) We saw some tools that can pull a ceiling down, open car door without damaging them (they used these when Cambria was locked in our car), and the "Jaws of Life."

They also had a really cool gadget (I'm not sure that's what it should be called) that could sense heat through walls (but not reflective surfaces). Here the fireman is showing the kids that the heat from his hand remains on the wall of the fire truck for a few seconds and can be seen by looking through the "gadget" after his hand was removed.


Then they let the kids climb in both of the vehicles.



They had a fire truck and the fire engine. I never realized there was a difference before. Both carry medical supplies and ladders and hoses, but the engine seems to have more of the support supplies for the big huge fire truck when it needs to be used. The fire truck in Station 13 was articulated, which means there is an additional section on the back that needs to be steered by another driver. The big fire truck also has a fixed ladder that is used for larger structure fires. The kids had a lot of fun imagining a firefighter up at the top of the ladder with their hose pointed on a fire while another firefighter was down below using the controls to make him go back and forth through the air... :)

At the end of the tour the kids had to raise their right hands and promise not to play with fire, which Kaiah and Colson thought was hilarious... One of the guys also mentioned that it is really helpful for firefighters to not have to also fight clothes and toys left laying in the floor in bedrooms as well. Yes! Now that they realize that their lives may depend on keeping their floors clean, it may become more of a reality! We couldn't make the firefighters force the kids to say that in an oath though...

Then they gave the kids some coloring and comic books and a badge sticker. I looked at them when we got home and decided that I needed to go over our fire escape plan with the kids. We made a meeting place, talked about what we do if our clothes catch on fire, reviewed what we say and who we ask for if we have to call 911, talked about crawling low when there is smoke, talked about escape routes in each room and went over many different scenarios. The kids asked good questions like, "What if we are on the toilet. Then what do we do?" Or, " What if we can't get to the front yard? Where do we meet in the back yard?" Or, "What would we try to save if we had time?" Then I realized they don't know our address. So we are working on that... and I realized I need to go purchase a fire extinguisher. I hope we don't need to put these plans into practice anytime soon, but I'm thankful for the refresher course for the kids and for me.

Thank you Scott and firefighters from Station 13! We all had a great time, learned a lot, and are making a few changes thanks to you. And thanks again for all the hard work you do and for keeping us safe.