Cape Fire Department to hold citywide open house

Oct 31, 2019 4 min read

Ever wondered how the fire department operates from day to day?

This weekend, Cape Coral residents can get an in-depth look at fire stations across the city, interactively learn about services offered and get a chance to meet the men and women who protect one of the largest and fastest growing cities in the state.

CCFD will hold a series of open houses at many of its stations, Saturday, from 9 a.m. until noon. This is the 10th year CCFD has offered an inside look into operations for the community.

“Residents can meet their neighborhood firefighters who would respond to their home in an emergency,” said CCFD spokesperson Andrea Schuch. “Our community can learn more about what services are offered, not only by the fire department but other partner public safety agencies. It’s important for us to continually build relationships with the community, these relationships help make the community safer — which is our ultimate goal.”

Schuch said these open houses are designed to be interactive and hands on, including scavenger hunts, spraying the fire house, trucks, ambulances, helicopters, SWAT vehicles and more.

Residents can learn fire safety tips, meet Fire Chief Ryan Lamb or Police Chief David Newlan, learn about tools and equipment used by the fire department and other safety agencies, as well as get a sense of ease knowing all of the resources at their disposal for emergency situations.

The list of stations and opportunities offered are as follows:

– Fire Station 1 – 4610 Coronado Pkwy.

“Save a Life Station”

~ Blood donations with Lee Health

~ Adoptable dogs from the Cape Coral Animal Shelter

– Fire Station 2 – 701 Nicholas Pkwy.

“Water Safety Station”

~ CCFD dive team, dive equipment, and rescue boat

~ CCPD jpersonal watercraft

~ US Coast Guard Auxiliary with Coastie, their interactive robotic tugboat

– Fire Station 3 – 1627 Everest Pkwy.

“Cape Coral Police Department Station”

~ SWAT team with their Bearcat vehicle

~ K-9 officers

~ Meet and greet with Cape Coral Police Chief Dave Newlan

– Fire Station 4 – 2007 Santa Barbara Blvd.

“Junior Firefighter Station”

~ Junior firefighter obstacle course

~ Meet and greet with Cape Coral Fire Chief Ryan Lamb

– Fire Station 5 – 1029 Diplomat Pkwy.

“Wildland Safety Station”

~ Florida Forest Service bulldozer and Smokey Bear

~ Lee County Mosquito Control District helicopter and education display (including insects!)

– Fire Station 6 – 4540 Chiquita Blvd.

“Vehicle Safety Station”

~ Florida Highway Patrol trooper and squad car

~ Car seat safety checks with Safe Kids

~ Vehicle extrication demonstrations

– Fire Station 9 – 4107 Pelican Blvd.

“Child Safety Station”

~ 9-1-1 for Kids

~ Inflatable Fire Safety Smoke House

~ Face painting

~ CCPD Fingerprinting for Kids

– Fire Station 11 – 1038 Burnt Store Rd

“Lee County EMS Station”

~ LCEMS ambulance

~ LeeFlight helicopter

– Fire Station 7 – 3942 Burnt Store Rd

– Fire Station 8 – 707 SW 1st St.

– Fire Station 10 – 3623 Gator Circle W.

~ Open House activities such as scavenger hunt, station tours, and apparatus demonstrations

Schuch said this is one of the fire department’s favorite days, as they usually meet residents during an emergency situation — a less- than -ideal scenario to become acquainted.

“Often, we only interact with residents and visitors during emergency situations, possibly the worst day of that person’s life,” Schuch said. “We love this event, as it allows us to meet members of the community under different circumstances. But, we want to make sure they know we will be there if they need us.”

Visitors can hop from station to station throughout the allotted time period, though Schuch recommends getting a view of the firehouse closest to you, so that you can meet who will most likely be responding to your home in the event of an emergency.

The open house event is a wrap up to Fire Prevention Month, a CCFD extension of Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 6-12).

“Each year the National Fire Protection Agency develops a theme for Fire Prevention Week,” Schuch said. “This year’s is ‘Not Every Hero Wears a Cape. Plan and Practice Your Escape!’ This campaign works to educated everyone about the small but important actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe. These include testing your smoke alarms, planning an escape route, choosing an outside meeting place and practicing a home fire drill. This year’s Open House has a hero theme and all kids who visit a fire station will receive a cape.”

-Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @haddad_cj