Firefighter Ethan!

This past Saturday Ethan took part in a class with our local park district about How to be a Firefighter. They held it at the firehouse and was just for kids. He was so excited and couldn't wait to go!

When we got there we sat down and they had fireman themed coloring books for the kids along with hats and junior firefighter badge. Then they started their presentation. They did a demonstration of all the gear they have to wear and what purpose it served. Ethan was hanging on their every word. I felt a lot safer after hearing their presentation because they are the number 5 rated fire station in all of Illinois! Their average time from the call coming in to arriving on site is under 4 minutes, pretty impressive!

After the demonstration they answered some questions, and then we went on a tour of the station and to see all of the trucks! They took us through the engine and explained all the tools they had on board, what everyone's responsibility was on the truck and the process when they arrive on the scene. Ethan got to hold a hose, an axe and he got to sit in the truck. He loved every second of it!

When they were finished explaining everything on board the engines, they had a obstacle course set up for the kids to go through. This was Ethan's favorite part of the day.

He had to put their uniform on and then carry a real fire house through a cone course.

Then he had to drag a dummy to a tube, drop it and then crawl through the tube.

Then he used a sledgehammer to pound a piece of wood through two slats.

Finally he got to use the fire hose to put out a "fire."

They took us on a tour through the rest of the station, including their personal quarters. Ethan had such a great time. It was so fun to be there to see how excited he was learning about everything.