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Lawrenceville Fire Company open house a big hit with kids

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   With a look of intense concentration on her face, Bailyn Prichett held the fire hose and aimed it at the red cups suspended in the windows of the cardboard house in the driveway alongside of the Lawrenceville Fire Company.
   Bailyn moved the hose in a circular motion, under the supervision of a Lawrenceville Fire Company volunteer. The red cups, which represented flames, moved back and forth in the windows under the pressure of the water.
   After a few minutes, the 8-year-old Manning Lane resident turned the hose over to another child who had been waiting patiently to test his firefighting skills.
   ”I liked spraying the hose,” Bailyn said. “You get to spray a real fire hose. It’s a little bit harder to use (than a garden hose).”
   This was the first time that the Prichett family visited the Lawrenceville Fire Company, which held its annual open house Oct. 8. The open house event coincides with National Fire Prevention Week, which was held Oct. 5-11.
   ”We came today because we pass the fire station (on Gordon Avenue) every day,” said Helen Prichett, Bailyn’s mother. “The firemen are so nice and so welcoming and helpful. They are volunteers, and it’s nice to come out and support them. We appreciate the volunteers and what they do.”
   Ms. Prichett said the children like to learn about fire safety. It’s important to expose them to educational activities like the annual open house, and also to have fun while they are learning, she said.
   Inside the firehouse, the volunteers set up several exhibits. One of the most popular with the younger visitors — and some of their parents — was Flashy the Fire Dog.
   The mechanical Dalmatian dog sat in a small fire truck and spoke to the children. They would ask him a question and he would answer it. Sometimes, Flashy rolled around inside the firehouse in his fire truck.
   The volunteer firefighters also set up a table with a variety of smoke detectors. Next to the smoke detectors was a dollhouse that demonstrated where smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors should be placed.
   Capt. Butch Bentley said some smoke detectors are wired into the house’s electrical system and others are battery-operated. Some of the hard-wired smoke detectors also have a battery, in case there is no electricity.
   Outside on the pavement, Lawrenceville Fire Company Captain Mike Weber and several volunteer firefighters demonstrated how they rescue victims who are trapped inside a car that has been involved in an accident.
   Capt. Weber explained each step of the extrication process, beginning with stabilizing the car with padding so it won’t move. The volunteers began to pry open the passenger’s side door. Then, they began to strip away the front windshield because “anything we can do get quicker access to the patient” is a good thing, Capt. Weber said.
   ”That’s so cool,” one youngster said as he watched the volunteer firefighters peel the windshield away from the car.
   Finally, the volunteers freed the victim — a dummy — from the car.
   Visitors also had a chance to climb in and out of the fire trucks and an ambulance, which were parked in front of the firehouse. They tried on a firefighter’s helmet and also checked out the goodies — pencils with the Lawrenceville Fire Company emblazoned on them, and an assortment of brochures.
   Chief Ray Nagy was pleased with the event.
   ”The main reason we do it is to promote community awareness of who we are and the services we provide. We open up the firehouse to the public so they can see what goes on down here,” Chief Nagy said.
   ”Also, it gives people a chance to see what firefighters do, to touch a hose and to get that ‘fire’ to come back down here. That’s how I got started. We want to plant the seed (of becoming a volunteer firefighter) early,” Chief Nagy said.