Kids of all ages got a chance to ride in the Denare Beach Fire Department’s trucks during the village’s fire safety open house Oct. 9.
For volunteer firefighter Mark Lucas, the night was about learning.
He taught kids about planning for a fire and how to escape potentially dangerous situations.
“I get roped into this every year,” he said, laughing.
The focus of this year’s talk was to encourage kids to learn a family fire escape plan.
“Each year, we have a theme. This year is escape, making sure that you have two ways out of every room in your home,” Lucas said.
“Make sure that everybody's got a proper plan put in place. That's it at the end of the day. Hopefully, everybody's a bit safer.”
Lucas leaned on his experiences in teaching, as well as the natural fascination kids have with firefighters.
“I think it's one of the most trustworthy professions,” he said.
“Growing up, you always see the glory of the rescue, the saving of the kittens up a tree, stuff like that. Growing up, that's magical. You’re always somebody’s role model.”
The next big event for the Denare Beach department will be doing patrols during Halloween night.
“We're a volunteer fire department, so we like to do as many things in the community as we can,” Lucas said.
“This is just one of the many things that we do. You'll see us out pretty soon patrolling the streets October 31, keeping everybody safe.”
