Fire Prevention Program

CCFR expands Fire Prevention Programs

I would like to thank you for visiting the CCFR website. We are in the process of starting our Fire Prevention Program for all ages and have made some new additions. My Name is Josh Wehinger and I currently hold the position of Fire Lieutenant with the Columbia County Fire Rescue Department. I personally have been in the fire service for 11 years and love working with children and adults of all ages. I was actively involved with the starting of the Lake City Fire Department clown team about eight years ago. I have since transferred to this department and am working to establish a Clown Team to reach the children and adults of Columbia County. My clown name is NOZZLE and he loves hanging out with kids of all ages and talking with them about being fire safe. Nozzle has two new friends and their names are HIGBEE and DING DING. I would love to tell you about them. HIGBEE is very quiet but loves to teach children about the dangers that are around us every day. It may take a few minutes to get him to warm up to you but once he does, he's great fun. Ding Ding on the other hand is very high strung and loves to play and hang out. He is just like one of the kids and is more than willing to spread the news about Fire Safety. Together we work hand and hand with the famous BOOTS of the Lake City Fire Department. We currently are working on some things to bring to schools and other events. So keep checking our web site for upcoming events and remember always be fire safe! NOZZLE

PS. Can you identify "NOZZLE", "HIGBEE" and last but not least "DING DING"?

Christmas Party

The Columbia County Fire Department Auxiliary will again be hosting the fire department Christmas Party this year. The party will be held on December 9, 2010 at 6:00 PM at the newly renovated banquet hall at the Columbia County Fairgrounds. The Mercy Mountain boys will be providing the entertainment. Details are still being completed on the meal and other miscellaneous. Updates will be posted here as we get them.

Holiday Fire Safety

Decorating homes and businesses is a pleasurable tradition around the holiday season. Unfortunately these same decorations may increase your chance of fire. Based on data from the US Fire Administration and estimated 250 home fires involve Christmas trees and another 170 home fires involve holiday lights and other decorative lighting each year. These fires resulted in 20 deaths and 45 injuries.

Follow simple fire safety tips to keep your holidays bright and incident free this year; learn how to prevent fires and what to do in case a fire starts in your home, make sure all exits are accessible and not blocked by decorations or trees, make sure all extension cords are free from cracks or fraying, make sure all lights are working properly, do not overload your electrical outlets, etc. Get the family together and talk about these and come up with more of your own. Enjoy the holidays but be safe! Merry Christmas and happy holidays....

Columbia County Fair Exhibit

The 56th annual Columbia County Fair is in town and the Columbia County Fire Department has a fun and educational skit prepared for the citizens to see and participate in. They have set up an area right at the entrance to the fair using the county's educational trailer, fire extinguisher training unit, a fire engine and some low risers. It all starts with "Higbee" our usually silent, big lug, bear of a clown (played by Firefighter Cody Bertram) standing on the low risers. He will dance, sing and interact with the incoming fair goers to try and get them to stop in their tracks and wait around for the next show.

When show time has arrived, a firefighter, usually Lt. Wehinger (alias Nozzle) will be the announcer. He will go through a small talk on what the people will see and learn. He then asks for an adult volunteer. Invariably a dozen or more small hands will go up. He explains how what they are going to show should never be done by a child and then finally picks an adult volunteer. He will ask them to come up. As they come forward he hits a button that ignites the flames on the extinguisher training unit. He calls to them "hurry, come up and extinguish the flames, hurry, hurry!"

As they reach for the extinguisher sitting in front of the unit, he hits the kill switch and says "wait a minute now, have you ever used one of those before?" Usually the answer is no. He then goes through the different types of fire and the different types of fire extinguishers. As he nears the end of his talk, he hits the button that ignites the flames again. The person is then allowed to extinguish the fire.

They have several other items they go through that both educate and enthrall the audience. The last is a skit where they pull two pint-sized volunteers from the audience. They dress them in small bunker coats and plastic childs fire helmets. They go through a hose pulling drill and after both kids know what is expected, they have a competition to see which child is fastest at pulling the hose. The winner gets to douse the audience with a fire extinguisher that has been pre-set to blow confetti on the crowd.

Great fun is had by all and those that want to hang around after the show get to take pictures with the firefighters, clowns and equipment. They can also go through the educational trailer which is also a smoke house. The kids get to practice stop, drop and roll and the adults get to experience what the firefighters go through when they get to a smoke filled residence that they are unfamiliar with. They have to maneuver their way from the front door to the back, staying low to the ground and feeling their way.

The educational team has done a super job in putting all this together and we are very proud of their professionalism and community spirit to put on these events.

 

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