Cleverly holding their open day on a beautiful evening, and not in a torrential downpour, the firefighters, police officers and city workers who hosted the St. Louis Park Fire House Open Day yesterday - Tuesday - put on a great event.
Firetrucks, police cars, and city vehicles like a backhoe and a dump truck were on show, as was the chance to squirt water with real hoses, and see firefighting demonstrations. All the children there, and their parents too, were having a wonderful time.
Yes, fire trucks are very cool. But the thing that astounded me was what one of the firefighters said at one of the fire safety demonstrations. In 1996, the law was changed in Minnesota so that all new homes must have a smoke detector on every floor, in each bedroom, and in every passageway leading to bedrooms. Every year in Minnesota, about 50 people are killed in house fires. Barely any fatalities are in houses built after 1996. Those smoke alarms are saving many lives.
Only my kitchen had a smoke detector. I bought a smoke detector for each bedroom in my apartment on the way home.
Thank you, St. Louis Park Fire Department, for a very fun evening, and thank you for the good advice. I hope I'll never need those $9.99 smoke detectors, and I know that fire safety is about prevention and education as well as simply having smoke detectors, but after hearing those statistics, I'm glad I have them.
If you missed the fun at St. Louis Park, many fire stations around the Twin Cities metro area hold open days in late September or October.
The Firefighter's Hall and Museum in Northeast Minneapolis has many beautiful vintage fire trucks to see. The museum is open on Saturdays, and admission includes a free fire truck ride during the summer.
One of the vintage firetrucks at the Firefigher's Hall and Museum. Photo © Clara James
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