The doors were open and the fire trucks were on display during the Humboldt Fire Department’s Open House on Oct. 10.
The Government of Saskatchewan declared Oct. 8-14 as Fire Prevention Week with the theme, ‘Every second counts, plan 2 ways out.’
Their focus with games and demonstrations was always about having two ways out of their home if there ever was an emergency, including a contest for kids to show the two ways out of their own homes.
Humboldt Fire Chief, Mike Kwasnica, says that around 200 people came out to the Fire Hall, many of them new faces, to have a burger and check out displays and games for the kids.
The department probably does around 20-30 tours a year for local school groups and organizations, says Kwasnica, so having the games ready for the kids was no problem.
The fire hall is nothing new to the students, especially in the Humboldt area. By the time the students are in grade two, they have probably received the tour about three times, laughs Kwasnica.
Other demonstrations invited the adults to try out some of the fire practice segments. Like the theme says, everyone should have two ways out of their house so the fire department set up one of their escape windows so everyone could practice how they would get out of a window if they had to.
Many of the questions from visitors was what it is like in a small fire department.
The Humboldt Fire Hall has received around 85 calls this year so far with this being a below average year of around 120 calls, says Kwasnica.
“We’re still down around 20 per cent for a five year average but that can change real quick.”
These calls can include fires, motor vehicle collisions, alarm calls, as well as false alarms.
Other people questioned how to get involved in the Fire Department and Kwasnica says they want to make sure people are coming into the department for the right reasons.
“We have a very close and tight group and we don’t want to disrupt that group so we can be very selective.”
The department is at full capacity right now with 26 firefighters, including Kwasnica and Deputy Fire Chief Darryl Wickenhauser and four waiting in the wings to join.
“I’d love to take all four because they’re really good applications.”
Besides encouraging everyone to think about the ways out of their home if there was a fire, Kwasnica also wants everyone to know not to be afraid of the fire department.
“We’re all normal guys who work in the community. We’re brothers, sisters, dads, grandpas, and we all just come here to do a job we love.”
