Fire Station visit
It had been part of my plan since A Year Ago (Yes it was THAT long ago, hahaha) to bring my 3 kiddies for a visit to the firestation open house. Finally! We made it! Yeah!! (Small pat on back).
This was indeed an eye opening experience, sitting in a fire truck and ambulance, holding a fireman mask. It's something we see every now and then, but a profession that we knew so little about nor had a chance to get so up close!
At the end of the tour, that's where the best part of the show begins. We were each given a turn to play firefighting, shooting water from their fire fighting hose across the fence! Wowee! It was a good experience as we get to feel the weight and pressure of the water hose. I was amazed by the force from the jet! Even when turning it off, I could feel a slight pull forward!
Overall experience is that this is an educational trip, not only for the children, but adult as well. If traveling time and distance is not a problem, it will definitely be a fulfilling trip to pay our firemen a visit. I would suggest the bigger firestations downtown will be better, as they tend to have the latest and wider range of vechicles to share.
Small quiz: Guess why is this pair of boots and folded down pants doing here just next to the fire truck?
It was just a small neighbourhood firestation, a few streets away from our home (Yeah! It was that nearby and took us a year to go! Hehehe.... guility).
Many firestations in the neighbourhood are open on Saturdays from 9am to 11pm. For a group less than 10 person, you could just walk in. For bigger crowds, you might need to register 2 weeks in advance, you may find out more here.
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| Joel with the Fireman hat on. |
We arrived at the firestation at about 10am, and approached one of the fireman at the guardhouse for directions. They were so kind to point to us where to park, and immediately followed after to guide us around. Each of the kid was given a fireman toy cap to keep! (What a nice surprise!) Then the guided tour commenced.
The tour guide (Turns out to be one of the fireman himself), ushered us around and started off in their office, which turns out to be a control room working closely with their com centre. He shared alot on their operational details, such as zone coverage and expected arrival time once a call is received. We were amazed that they were expected to speed over even to Pulau Ubin from Changi post within 15 mins!
After spending about 10-15 minutes understanding how the dispatching works, we proceeded to learn more about the different vechicles and tools used during emergencies. We learnt that there were several types of firefighting and rescue vehicles. The Pump Ladder (Which is the very commonly seen huge firetruck equiped with both a 1200L foam tank and a 2400L water tank ), the fire rescue bike( Which is equiped with a small foam tank),and more.
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| A multi connecting pump pressure installed on the firetruck. |
After spending about 10-15 minutes understanding how the dispatching works, we proceeded to learn more about the different vechicles and tools used during emergencies. We learnt that there were several types of firefighting and rescue vehicles. The Pump Ladder (Which is the very commonly seen huge firetruck equiped with both a 1200L foam tank and a 2400L water tank ), the fire rescue bike( Which is equiped with a small foam tank),and more.
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| The shelves of cutters and many more equipments needed in emergency rescues. |
This was indeed an eye opening experience, sitting in a fire truck and ambulance, holding a fireman mask. It's something we see every now and then, but a profession that we knew so little about nor had a chance to get so up close!
At the end of the tour, that's where the best part of the show begins. We were each given a turn to play firefighting, shooting water from their fire fighting hose across the fence! Wowee! It was a good experience as we get to feel the weight and pressure of the water hose. I was amazed by the force from the jet! Even when turning it off, I could feel a slight pull forward!
Overall experience is that this is an educational trip, not only for the children, but adult as well. If traveling time and distance is not a problem, it will definitely be a fulfilling trip to pay our firemen a visit. I would suggest the bigger firestations downtown will be better, as they tend to have the latest and wider range of vechicles to share.
Before I end this segment, just a sharing of a small video of a fireman demonstrating their oh-so-famous pole ladder sliding skill.
Small quiz: Guess why is this pair of boots and folded down pants doing here just next to the fire truck?
Fast Fact: Many people maybe wondering what is the difference between a speeding ambulance with a siren on vs a speeding ambulance without siren but flashing lights on. Should we give way?
Answer: Flashing lights ambulance are still running to a rescue scene for emergencies, however, this are usually situations where they cannot create alarm at the scene of arrivals. Thus, other vechicles are still required to give way.
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