Firefighter Angela Bachman addresses a group of Girl Scouts about being a firefighter. Photo courtesy of the Orange Volunteer Fire Department.
Firefighter Lisa Kaplan gets a little extra love as she leads Scouts on a hose maze designed to encourage kids to stay low if they must ever crawl out of a smoke-filled house. Photo courtesy of the Orange Volunteer Fire Department.
The normally tranquil Orange Volunteer Fire Department station on Boston Post Road was filled with laughter and excited voices from groups of young Scouts recently as they learned about fire safety and performed tasks that firefighters often do.
Firefighters welcomed members of different Orange-based Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and packs on Nov. 4 to the fire station. Firefighters talked about fire safety and then helped the children try skills ranging from handling a hose line to searching a smoke-filled room with a thermal imaging camera. Firefighter Angela Bachman also talked with the girls, telling them becoming a firefighter isn’t just for boys.
“Helping Scouts earn their merit badges is one of the fun things we get to do,” said firefighter Robert Panapada, who oversaw the evening. “By having all the Scouts come on one night, we can set up more exercises, have more people here to help and give them a more exciting experience. And while they’re having fun, they’re also learning.”
In addition to using a thermal imaging camera in a room filled with nontoxic fog that imitated smoke, Scouts moved a bucket using a charged hose line, followed a firefighter through an obstacle course and practiced staying low to get out of house filled with smoke. Parents looked on.
“Preventing fires and teaching people how to escape injury in case of a fire is as important to us as fire suppression,” said Fire Chief Vaughan Dumas, who was also at the event. “This is a great way for the kids to get to know us, know our equipment and not be afraid of us if they ever have to meet a firefighter during an emergency.”
Perhaps the biggest thrill for the kids, however, was when the evening ended with back-to-back fire alarms, sending apparatus out of the station with lights flashing and sirens wailing.
Fire prevention and public education programs are available to groups and organizations. For more information, call 203-891-4703, contact the Fire Department at orangevfd.org or find it on Facebook.