Last night The Wife and I took The Rooster down to Apple Valley Fire Station #2 to check out their open house which coincides with National Fire Prevention Week. Something we never attended before we figured it would be a fun thing to get out and do on a rainy October evening and it would definitely be something The Rooster would really enjoy.
On site they had Lakeville’s Fire Saftey House (which we did not tour), a large inflatable bouncy room, free Culver’s ice cream, an ambulance, a fire truck, tons of gear, lots of freebies including ashtrays, balloons, plastic helmets for the kids, etc. They let the kids sit in the truck, wear mock firefighter gear, and had a game outside where you used a hose to shoot water through a hole in a piece of plywood.
While we were only there about 20 minutes and got to see everything there was to see, The Rooster had an absolute blast running around dragging me from item to item with a balloon in tow and much finger pointing going on. If this is something you and/or your family would be interested in here are some of the other things you can do locally during National Fire Prevention Week:
| Apple Valley | Fire Station #3 | 10/13/2011 | 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM | More Info |
| Burnsville | Fire Station #1 | 10/13/2011 | 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM | More Info |
| Eagan | Fire Station #2 | 10/15/2011 | 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM | More Info |
| Farmington | Fire Station #2 | 10/13/2011 | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM | More Info |
| Rosemount | Fire Station #1 | 10/16/2011 | 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM | More Info |
* – Lakeville, Hastings, Savage held open houses earlier this month
Have you been to your city’s fire department open house? What do you like best about them? Have you ever purchased anything at the events to help provide them with additional funds to better serve you and your city? Are you planning on going now that you’ve seen what fun they can be? Whatever you have to say about National Fire Prevention Week open houses around the South Metro go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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October 13th, 2011 at 8:17 am
Awesome.
October 13th, 2011 at 8:35 am
I liked the direction that yesterdays post went, so I am going to push these comments in that direction too!
Bill, Do you feel like “The Rooster” knows better how to prevent fires? What other purpose does a fire station open house serve other than to give tours and give away stuff? Who pays for all this “free stuff” they give away? Hopefully it’s being donated by local business and not thrown onto the backs of the taxpayers without at least hosting a beer garden or something.
October 13th, 2011 at 8:46 am
1. “The Rooster” is less than two years old. Even if they had sat him down and lectured him extensively on the merits of not playing with matches or attempting to burn tiny kittens with a lighter, I don’t think it would have done him much good aside from pretty displays of light and pictures of kittens.
2. Aside from the t-shirts which said something like “AVFD Supporter” on the back which were on sale for ~$10/12, the other items appeared to be promotional and sponsored by third parties. There was also a Centerpoint Energy stand which was handing out stuff as well but since I was being pulled away from the boring stuff and to the fun stuff (trucks!) I didn’t pay much attention.
3. I don’t know about AV but fire stations such as Lakeville’s offer tours on certain days of the week and require advance notice to attend (3 weeks in the case of LV). They weren’t really giving any tours of anything except the first floor at AV last night and several of the areas (like the communications office) were closed up. I’m thinking last night was less of a ‘tour’ and more of a look at the flashing lights and climb up in the truck.
October 13th, 2011 at 8:49 am
I agree with twoboot. They should really be taking that free Culver’s ice cream and other free stuff and sell it, put the money into the city funds and give everybody that works for the city a raise.
October 13th, 2011 at 8:53 am
lefty, Culver’s was there giving the ice cream themselves out of a cart. It’s likely that it was donated.
October 13th, 2011 at 9:13 am
AV Fire has a very good reputation amongst the general fire service. It’s mainly a paid-volunteer department. They averaged over 3-1/2 calls a day between the 3 stations last year. Good people.
Twoboot, not all posts/threads need to be contentious to be interesting. Sometimes congeniality can be enjoyable.
Lefty, you’re hilarious (occasionally). ;-)
October 13th, 2011 at 9:26 am
Why should the city get to have a monopoly on fire protection, anyway? What is this, socialism? Let the free market work and people open up their own fire departments and not force taxpayers to pay for a service they’re not going to use. It’s that kind of slack attitude that’s making this country go to hell in a handbasket.
(Lest anyone take me seriously, yes, that’s sarcasm)
October 13th, 2011 at 9:28 am
We have been to the open house and love it. Yes, at the open house there is free stuff given away but I think some of you are missing the point. By holding an open house they are getting to know the neighbors and vice versa. They are trying to build a stronger community. While Burnsville has a paid fire dept, Apple Valley and Eagan are volunteer departments. What a great way to start the recruiting process for volunteer firefighters get them in your doors and you have even more of a chance to show people how they can help their own community.
October 13th, 2011 at 9:40 am
First off, that bottom photo is priceless, Bill.
Through my volunteer work, I have had the privilege of meeting and working with the fire departments in Apple Valley, Lakeville, Burnsville and Eagan as well as metro-wide. Like now, at any opportunity I have, I like to express what an outstanding job I think they do.
While I haven’t been to an open house event, I see them at different carnival-type events around town and make sure to bring the kids by. They also stop at our “Night to Unite” or whatever it’s called.
I’d be happy to buy a $10 t-shirt or whatever to support their cause. I’ve never been anywhere where I’ve seen them for sale.
Glad the Rooster had a fun time!
October 13th, 2011 at 9:43 am
Business opportunity thwarted. Just think if they even charged half price for the frozen custard and donated the money to the general fund for Apple Valley city workers wages. It would have been a win/win for everyone, even those that only paid half price for frozen custard!
Was Sparksals there getting free stuff?
October 13th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Fire department open houses are a great chance for the comunity to meet the firefighters and put hands on the equipment that is used. Kids love to play on the trucks and put on the plastic helmets.
At the same time, the fire department can talk to families about fire safety, smoke detector/carbon monoxide detector cleaning and batteries, and thank the community for it’s support.
Each open house is different and in Apple Valley they coinside with the fire department visits to the schools to try and boost attendance from the public.
As for the Culver’s, who doesn’t love frozen custard? Who cares how much it costs or who pays for it? The kids love it!
October 13th, 2011 at 7:07 pm
Interesting timing that I happened upon this post, as the Farmington FD is having their open house as I write this. The med-evac chopper just made a low fly-by and landed at the fire station. I heard all the kids go nuts as it landed. Next year I will for sure be bringing our son to the event. I don’t think he’s quite old enough to necessarily know what’s going on.
Next year it’ll be a great experience for him. Hopefully if he likes it, it’ll be something we can enjoy every year.
October 13th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
My brother is a retired paid volunteer fire fighter. He lives about a block from his fire station out in western Minnesota. They also would have open houses for the local residents, and their goal was specifically to meet the public. They so often only meet people during the worst of times. Fire fighters are a different class of people and they truly enjoy sharing what they do with the people they are paid to protect. They are often very proud of their station, and their equipment, and love to show it off.
I think they are great events for folks to get familiar with those serving them, as well as others in the community. They are certainly more fun than mayoral candidates. oh, and children really enjoy the trucks.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:34 pm
i think it’s a great idea to introduce to us workers we may take for granted that are entrusted in saving our lives should the occasion arise. these fine folks risk life and limb for us and the mrs and i have all the respect in the world for them.
the police departments should do the same thing saving of course a special place for mspd and lefty:)
bb
October 13th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
whoops, the special place being!
bb
October 14th, 2011 at 5:59 pm
Is he going to learn about fire prevention? No.
Even though Rooster is less than 2 years old, an event like this is important to help him realize that the fire fighters are good guys. Should a fire occur at your house (God Forbid), imagine what a fire fighter in full gear and oxygen tanks on his back while fire trucks with sirens blaring and light flashing would look like to a young child who has never witnessed this before. They could be scared stiff and unable to comprehend the situation or follow directions.
Awareness can never start to early.