At a very quick glance, someone driving down the Post Road early Saturday afternoon might have thought something bad was happening at Hindley School. Five or six of the towns fire trucks were parked on the basketball courts and playfields, fire extinguishers and hoses doused flames, and smoke rose into the sky. But if you stopped by to check out the action, youd be relieved to know it was just Fun with Firefighters, an event coordinated by Dariens three volunteer fire departments.
The Town of Darien Firefighters Foundation, a group that organizes events to raise money for the departments, organized the day's festivities. They had done community events as fundraisers in the past, including its annual Lobsters for Ladders" barbecue every September, but this one was different than most. This time, they made some money selling refreshments and taking donations, but it was mostly a way to reach out to the children of the town.
The three departments do a lot of stuff together, but this one is really focused on the community, said Chris Schneider of the Noroton Heights Fire Department, who is on the TDFFs board of directors. We raised a little bit of money, but mostly we wanted to do something for the kids.
The day served two functions: teaching kids fire safety, and letting them have fun pretending to be firefighters. Volunteers from all three departments planned a number of educational activities. They set up a controlled simulation of a kitchen fire to teach kids how to properly use fire extinguishers, and had another program that gave tips on escaping from a smoke-filled room. Just for fun, the firefighters also let them work the fire hose and gave fire truck rides. In the end, We just let them run around and play on the fire trucks, Schneider said.
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