Fun at the Fire Station

The boys were in for a treat over the weekend. Daddy and I took them to the Sri Hartamas Fire Station on Saturday morning, as part of a group visit by IBU.

When we arrived at 10am, there were already chairs set up and a nice big tarp on the floor for the children/ parents who preferred to hang out on the floor. Then, they got the fire engines out to the big open area and let the kids explore.

It was fun! The boys climbed into the fire engine, soaking in all they could from the experience. One boy climbed up the ladder at the back of the fire engine, until the senior fireman himself got a little nervous and asked him to come down. But the firemen were most sporting and happy to host our group. They helped carry the boys up and down the fire engine while the parents were busy taking photos.

Then they asked us to gather in front of the office (where the chairs were set up) for a welcome address. The senior fireman was most gracious, thanking us for taking the time to visit and also gave some pointers on what to do if our clothes caught fire.

After explaining the "STOP, DROP and ROLL" method, he asked for a volunteer to help demonstrate it. We tried to get Abang but he steadfastly refused. So Mummy raised Adik's hand and said, "He'll do it!"

I sent Adik to the senior fireman and he turned Adik around to face the audience.

"If your clothes catch fire, the first thing to do is to stop moving. Don't run, don't walk," he said while holding on to Adik's shoulders.

"Then you drop to the flooor (at this point I had to instruct Adik to baring which he did), cover your face with your hands (I told Adik to 'close eyes' and he did) and then roll about on the floor (which the senior fireman did to Adik)."

Adik, what a champion!

After that we all went back to the open area where they hooked up the hoses and let the children spray the hose just like a fireman! In fact, they were telling us about a group of kindergarten children who visited them and they all excitedly ran into the spray of water. Parents and kids went home soaked..

Next up was when they took parents and children up on what Abang refers to as the "fire engine carrier". They took one fireman, 2 parents and 2 children up at one time. When Daddy went with Abang, Adik saw them going up and up from the ground and he burst into tears, howling and wailing, "Nak Daddy! Adik naaaak!" So he went up the next round with Daddy.

I was most impressed that the boys weren't freaked out at all at the height. Mummy on the other hand was totally chicken and refused to go up. The fireman offered Daddy and Mummy an "exclusive" trip up higher than for the children, just the 2 of us, but Mummy declined. Mummy has vertigo!

Before we left they distributed a "Home Fire Safety" booklet. We got the Malay version as they were running low on the English one. What a fun morning!