Reagan, 2, looks at the badge around the neck of the dog. Reagan’s grandmother Suzy Van Hall thought his second favorite part of the open house was seeing the dog, but his first was seeing the “woo woo” fire trucks. 
A child, helped by his mother, aims a water hose at a wooden board made to look like a burning building. The water hose was one of the many activities offered at the Delhi Township Fire Department fire safety open house. 
A firefighter helps a child use an extinguisher to put out a fire. The fire department taught the children P.A.S.S. which means “pull,” “aim,” “squeeze” and “sweep.” 
Families take part in the Delhi Township Fire Department fire safety open house at the Delhi Community Center. This is the first time in two years that the event is being held, as last year it was cancelled because of concerns about COVID-19. 
A firefighter explains to a child the common places where fires start in houses, and what to do if it happens. The National Fire Prevention Association said the most common way for home fires to start has been through cooking.
The Delhi Township Fire Department put on a fire safety open house on Oct. 7 to raise awareness of fire hazzards before the holiday season, one of the busiest times of the year.
Between 2014 and 2018, the leading cause of home fires was cooking, causing 49 percent of all home fires, according to the National Fire Prevention Association. Thanksgiving and Christmas are the top two days of most home fires from cooking.
Parents brought their children to learn what to do in case of a fire or other emergencies. The event had a number of activities for children, including how to use a fire hose and a fire extinguisher, and ended with a demonstration of the jaws of life opening the roof of a car.
The open house was held as a part of Fire Safety Week, held every year in the first week of October.
Assistant Fire Chief Leo Allaire said the focus for this year’s event was on smoke detection. He recommends residents check to see if their smoke detector is fully charged, and that they replace the battery at least once a year.
The 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19.
“This is an annual event we hold just to bring the kids in, let them know about fire safety, fire prevention, just different things that they’re able to see,” Allaire said. “We’re glad to see everybody come back to the fire station and have some relevance of normalcy.”
Sara Babcock, 34, said she brought her children to make sure they are familiar with who firefighters are. She said one of her sons once told her to straighten up when there was a police officer coming down the street, and she doesn’t want her children to only associated public safety officers with negative things
“Just to be more comfortable around firefighters and know what they’re supposed to be doing or what their job is,” Babcock said. “They’re here to help instead of, you know, be afraid if there’s a cop on the street.”
One of the activities set up at the event was a small pit that would light up with flames. Children could practice using a fire extinguisher to put it out.
The Delhi Fire Department emphasizes the P.A.S.S. system for using an extinguisher. First you “pull” on the extinguisher, then you “aim” at the fire, before “squeezing” the handle and “sweeping” across the fire to put it out. Babcock’s 10-year-old daughter, Brooklyn, said this was her favorite activity.
Jamie Mears drove her five children from Leslie. She said that her children liked all the different activities put on by the fire department, and she hopes they can learn the “rights and wrongs” of fire safety.
“We came out to bring the kids to teach them about fire safety,” she said. “We’ve practiced drills at home, but it’s good for them to be hands-on with the actual firefighters so that way they’re not scared of them.”
Allaire said the event also worked as a recruitment event for the future. The department is hoping some of the children who attended will aspire to be firefighters.
“So these kids are getting stuff that maybe five, 10 years down the road, they may be an employee here and help come in and serve their community,” he said.