Our Family Staycation: The Fire Department!

After the aquarium, we paid a visit to a fire department! Remember my friend Esther with the coupons? Well, her husband, Lee, is a fireman and works in Long Beach.  Since we were in the area, he generously offered to show us around. Lee has been a fireman for fifteen years and is actually an engineer, which means he drives the vehicle. 

One of the first things that I learned at the firehouse is the difference between a fire truck and a fire engine. Seriously, this is something that has puzzled me ever since I had kids and started seeing the fire vehicles in books.  Some books label them fire trucks and other label them fire engines.  I thought they were interchangeable, but the truck is actually larger and has a ladder. Not all departments have both a fire truck and a fire engine, but Lee's does.  Most of the departments just have fire engines.  There was lots of excitement while we were there! Calls came in, so we got to see the truck and the engine go out and come back!  It was really neat to see the flashing lights and hear the sirens up close!

Lee even had special treats for everyone: a workbook about fire safety and a little fireman sticker badge. When it quieted down, he pulled the truck out and let us explore the truck!  He showed us some of the big, impressive equipment that they use: the jaws of life and the chainsaw! Then, up the giant steps into the truck, he took the kids one by one. They talked to one another on the headsets and tried on the real helmets! Then everyone went up really high in the air in the basket of the ladder. Really high in this case means 105 feet! That's ten stories high! I was too scared, but the kids weren't! After everyone came down safely, Lee even took them for a spin around the block in the truck. Going to the fire department was really fun for everyone! A special thanks to Lee for opening his home to us and giving us the awesome tour!

This is Josiah at the beginning of the tour.  So intent!

Here comes the engine!

Maggie's talking on the headset!

Matthew was a little unsure about the heavy helmet!

Jonathan is ready for a spin!

Here's Lee showing us some impressive power equipment!

He's showing the kids up close.

The kids are all piled in the truck!

Mama is a little nervous about the kiddos going up so high.  It's really good for kids to have daredevil Dads!

Oh, my goodness, how high are they going to go???

No fear Mary loved going up high in the basket!

All the kids posed for a picture: Corben, Mary holding Obie, Jonathan, Matthew, CJ, Maggie, and Hezy.

And here's Josiah at the end!