An inside look into your local fire station

Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) will be holding its annual Open Day on

Saturday, May 21 this year, giving the local community an inside look in to

what it is like to be a firefighter. If you’ve ever wondered what goes on inside

your local fire station, or want to get your fire safety questions answered,

Open Day is the event for you.

The beauty of Open Day is that it includes activities for people of all ages.

Activities include being part of a fire station tour, helping firefighters with the

inspection of firefighting equipment and the opportunity to sit inside a real life

firefighting appliance.

Firefighters enjoy opening the doors for the day, and look forward to the event

each year. If you ask nicely you might even get the chance to dress in some

of the firefighter’s protective clothing, which helps keep them safe during

emergencies.

Open Day runs from 10am to 2pm, but be aware that some fire stations may

combine the event with neighbouring sites. The firefighters are also still on call

so if the bells go off they will need to respond to emergencies as normal. The

best way to ensure your local station is participating is to drop in and ask, or

to look for the ‘Open Day’ posters hanging in the station windows. Contact

details can also be found online.

Fire safety education is always an important part of Open Day. 2016 marks

the 10th anniversary of the NSW smoke alarm legislation, which specified that

all residential buildings must have at least one working smoke alarm per floor.

With most smoke alarms needing to be replaced every 10 years, the focus

this year is not on NSW residents being asked to change their smoke alarm

batteries, but to update their entire alarm.

Be sure to speak to one of your local firefighters on the day about replacing

your older smoke alarms with new photoelectric smoke alarms (the only type

recommended by Australian fire services).

FRNSW has also created an exciting partnership with LEGO, meaning at this

year’s Open Day children have the chance to obtain a limited edition Brigade

Kids activity booklet featuring LEGO City characters. Make sure to be quick

though, as there is already huge interest and stock is limited.

With 80,000 people expected to attend around the State, it is sure to be

another successful event. Keep an eye out too for fundraising efforts for NSW

Kids in Need, which helps six kid's charities, including Westmead Children’s

Hospital Burns Unit and Muscular Dystrophy NSW. Last year over $20,000

was raised, making a real difference in the lives of children.

For more information on the day, visit www.fire.nsw.gov.au.

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