Fire Chief for a day

This year, as every other year, the school and community do a fire safety awareness campaign in October. The Fire Department sends out a pamphlet with activities and safety reminders. Then the kids complete it and enter it in a draw for prizes. This year Kai won the first prize for his school! The prize was getting to be Fire Chief for a day and a party for himself and the whole family at the fire station! This all took place a few days before Halloween and the kids were beside themselves with excitement.

It was a spectacular evening. The little fire chief and his sisters were invited to the station where they first got to try on all the real fire fighter gear. There was a weighted dummy they got to try dragging to safety, a coil of hose they could haul up with a pulley, a block they got to whack with a sledgehammer. They tried spraying a target with a real fire hose, and went for a ride in the fire truck! Kai sat in front and even sounded the siren!

After all this they had a special treat for dinner - McDonald’s had sent happy meals and nuggets for all the kids. While they were eating, Sparky the fire dog came around to give high fives and hugs to everyone. After dinner the “other” Fire Chief and the Mayor gave some speeches and presented all the little fire chiefs with an honourary certificate and a full colour - fold out page book about fire engines. Everyone left with a plastic fire fighter’s hat, McDonald’s happy meal toy, placemat, and colouring books.
I was blown away by the great lengths the department went to to make this a special evening for the kids. Lots of the folks at the fire department turned out to show their support, and they were all friendly and enthusiastic.

The kids had a blast and came home with beaming smiles. So I planned a little thank you surprise for the folks at Fire Station 2. I made cupcakes with a firefighter motif and brought them down to the station for all to enjoy. I had subtly asked how many people in the fire house at the party, and there were so many I did a double batch of cupcakes. I decorated them with little ladders and axes, hydrants, dalmations, and flames. This took me a while to do because we have been busy, and also because there was no set deadline to have them done. But finally I put it all together with a thank you card made of pictures of firefighting the kids drew, and am taking them down to the fire station tomorrow.