By Jonas Gagnon
Caledonia Courier
The fire hall was a hive of activity on February 18, just not the usual activity, with firefighters scrambling to save lives, but rather children scrambling through blow up castles and clamouring for burgers.
The fire hall was opened to show the community what the volunteer fire department is doing.
“It’s all about awareness,” said Fire Chief Rob Bennett.
The fire department had all their tools on display, from their new fire truck, to their highway rescue tools. Kids, in particular, had a great time looking through the cab of the firetruck and sitting in the driver’s seat, while the fire chief gave adults tours around the truck and explained the plethora of tools it held.
Volunteer firefighters were also present to answer any questions people had about the department.
More than just information about the department, Bennett wanted to spread awareness about other dangers.
“One of the things we’re trying to promote is CO2 awareness,” said Bennett.
To that end the department had a pile of CO2 detectors to give away to draw winners in an effort to combat the ‘silent killer.’
“Everyone should have at least one CO2 detector in their house,” said Bennett
Sparky, the department mascot, was also on hand for photo ops, and to play with the kids. After the kids were played out and full, they got colouring books, stickers and balloons to take home with them.