Halloween comes early?

Nope! It's Fire Prevention Month!

We attended Firefighter Story Time at the local library. Most of the kids wear anything and everything that remotely resembles firefighter gear. Koen's outfit was by far the best this time (we attended last year, too). He was so excited to wear all this stuff. The helmet stayed on even in his car seat...he refused to take it off.

About ten firefighters were there to read stories. Most were situated on the floor throughout the crowd, helping us follow along in the books as the main guy read aloud up front. And, as if to make the experience come to life, they suddenly got an emergency call on their radios. We all fell silent, listening to the dispatcher as she said, "Station 31, Station 31". One fireman looked around at his peers and said, "That's us, guys. We gotta go."

It was hard not to get a chill down your spine as they all jumped up and practically ran out of the library amidst the cheering kids and parents. It was pretty cool. Many of us adults were talking to our little ones who didn't understand the commotion, saying, "They're going to save some people!" Then we listened for a minute after they left and heard the sirens driving away.

Luckily, they had planned for this very interruption. There was one fireman who stayed behind to finish story time with the kids. Koen was very focused as watched him don his gear. He has recently been scared of firefighters, ever since we saw a life size 'fire-mannequin' at the children's museum. It was a little bit creepy, I must give him that. The mannequin was propped up in the corner of a room wearing a big oxygen mask. His eyes were the hollow kind that followed you around the room. At one point, Koen tugged on my pant leg and said, "Mom, that 'cary' man's lookin' at me". Poor guy.

Anyway, ever since then I've been trying to convince him that firefighters are nice and that we like them because they're brave and they save people. I sure hope this new experience reassured him.

Here, Fireman Ben was showing the kids what he might look like to them if they were ever caught in a fire and needed his help. He said we wouldn't believe how many kids shy away from him when they see him crawling toward them in a burning house. Gee, ya think? Could you imagine being a little kid and seeing this image come at you through the smoke? Yikes!



We took a moment to pose with the fire engine out front. Koen had no interest in following the other kids inside the truck. No, he just wanted to see it from a distance. And by the way, the fire fighters gave him big compliments on his gear. They love their fans!