Cove Fire Department hosts open house

By PAMELA GRANT
Cove Leader-Press 

Members of the community were invited to a day of fun and learning at the fire department Saturday, when the Copperas Cove Fire Department hosted an open house during which children and adults could learn about fire safety, tour the department, and have a good time.
“We want the community to see that this is their house too,” said Fire Marshal Michael Fleming. “They can meet us, see what we do, and talk a little bit about fire prevention and emergency management. We have food, fun, and festivities…and hopefully they can walk away knowing maybe more than they knew when they came in here.”
Kids and adults were able to spray water with a real fire hose, try their hand at the Kyser Sled, visit with Fire Pup, go through their fire safety house, try on actual firefighting gear, and more.
As members of the community toured the fire department and checked out the emergency vehicles, they also learned important fire safety tips such as the importance of maintaining smoke detectors and making sure that they have a meeting place outside of the home for everyone to gather in case of a fire.
As part of the tour, the department played a short informational video about EDITH (Exit Drills In The Home) which was child accessible and taught about the importance of coming up with an escape plan and knowing how to make a safe escape should the need arise.
“I love it,” said Courtney Rodgers who brought her children Mason Rodgers (3), Branden Gonzales (11), and Eric Gonzales (9). “I like the little stations, and I loved the video—how it was in a form that they could understand.”
For many, the inflatable fire safety house was their favorite. They were able to learn a few fire safety tips before learning how to escape from a window should there be no other way to escape from a burning building. The children made their way through the inflatable building before crawling through the window and making their way to safety.
“I really liked the fire house thing,” said Chandler Branson. “I learned about shutting the door when there’s smoke.”