A Visit from the Firefighters

Firetruck Day is always big fun!  We are fortunate to have a fire department that loves to visit schools and we love to interact with our community helpers as often as we can.  It's nice to read about them in books, but it's far better to make a personal connection with them.

The firefighters arrived in ordinary clothes, but they showed the children the clothes they wear for fighting fires.  One guy explained each piece of clothing and its function as the other guy put it on.  The purpose of doing this slowly and with explanation is so the children will (hopefully) not think the gear is scary.

They spent a lot of time talking about the mask.  They compared it to looking through a little window, and that it gave them the fresh air they need so they won't cough in the smoky air.  I had one little Bunny who didn't buy into one word of that.  She was up in my arms facing the opposite direction the whole time! :)

One thing the firefighters like to impress upon the children is that if firefighters ever appear at their house and something is wrong, the children should never hide.  They should jump out and say, "Here I am!" so the firefighters can help them right away.

We learned about the hoses and the tools they have on board like axes, hammers and big saws.  Very cool!

The very best part of the whole visit was that the kids got to climb through the firetruck!  In one side...

...and out the other side.

Just as we went inside the firefighters had to dash away to an emergency!  We were so glad we got to see them.

When we returned to the classroom, we got into a discussion about what we had seen.
Here are some of their responses:

Mrs. O'Connor: What did you like about the firetruck?

E.B. - I liked when the firefighter put on the mask.

R.L. - I didn't like the mask.  I liked when the firefighter took OFF the mask.

N.M. - I liked going through the firetruck.

E.R. - I liked to go through it, and my favorite thing was looking at their tools.

S.S. - the mask

J.A. - I liked the firetruck.

K.R. - Well, I liked when we walked around.

J.I. - My car don't have smoke in it.  My daddy has fire at home on the skillet.  You turn it on and it's yellow and blue and Daddy cook pancakes and rice.  My cousins have fire.

E.L. - I liked the air in the mask.

O.P. - I liked when I jumped out from the inside.

D.V. - I like the jumping.

E.S. - engines