CCFD sets open house for Saturday
Residents are invited to meet their Cape Coral firefighters at an open house on Saturday.
The Cape Coral Fire Department will host the citywide meet-and-greet at all 10 fire stations from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is the seventh year that the department has organized the event for its residents.
“It’s important for the community to feel connected to their fire department and local fire station,” spokeswoman Andrea Schuch said. “It’s a way for people to learn more about their fire department.”
Along with meeting the firefighters assigned to their neighborhood station, residents will have an opportunity to see the fire trucks used by their station, as well as the apparatus and equipment.
“It’s really important for residents to understand what kind of community services there are out there for them and the services we provide,” she said, noting that other area agencies will be taking part.
Last year, approximately 2,000 residents took advantage of the open house.
“I would love to see the same, if not more,” Schuch said of this year.
Each station will feature giveaways and a scavenger hunt, with prizes including water bottles, backpacks and more, but each station will also offer something unique and different for visitors.
For example, Station 9 will have a junior firefighter obstacle course set up.
“The kids will have the opportunity to train like a firefighter,” she said.
They will have to carry a fire hose, use the water hose to spray a target and such.
“There’s going to be a smoke-filled tunnel to practice crawling low and they’ll rescue a stuffed animal,” Schuch said. “This is our first year having it, so I’m very excited to see what the public’s reaction is.”
Station 4 will feature an inflatable, interactive, fire safety smoke house for the first time.
“The guests walk through. There will be smoke,” she said, adding that the guests can interact with fire safety messages on the walls. “As they exit, there is inflatable smoke that they will crawl under.”
Another first for CCFD, vehicle extrication demonstrations at Station 2.
“Every 45 minutes, the firefighters will do a demonstration on a broken car, a donated car,” Schuch said. “It’s how firefighters practice using the tools commonly known as the Jaws of Life.”
At Fire Station 6, the focus will be on pets, with visitors receiving pet finder stickers.
“They’re stickers you can put on your window (of your residence) to alert firefighters to the fact that you have a pet,” she said, explaining that if no one is home, the stickers alert fire crews to the pets.
The Gulf Coast Humane Society will have adoptable dogs on site.
Out of all of the stations, Schuch is expecting Fire Station 8 to have the biggest draw.
“There will be three helicopters,” she said.
The open house is the culminating event for national Fire Prevention Week, set Oct. 9-15. This year’s theme for the week is “Don’t Wait – Check the Date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years.” Smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years from the manufacture date on the device, not purchase date.
“Smoke alarms do have an expiration date and a lot of people don’t know that,” Schuch said.
“The sensor in there might be old and might not be as effective,” she added.
For more information about Fire Prevention Week or smoke alarms, visit the National Fire Protection Association at: www.nfpa.org/fpw or on Facebook at “National Fire Protection Association.”