This past weekend, I attended ValleyFest with Sloan and Beau. The event is a tremendous showcase for Spokane Valley that offers entertainment, food, a car show, 5K race, and countless vendors. It truly is a major community gathering.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department showed up in full force to the event. Several fire fighters were on-hand to pass out plastic station hats and allow youngsters to sit inside one of the department’s shiny red fire trucks.

Sloan hanging out in a Spokane Valley Fire Department truck.

As Sloan and Beau each took a turn climbing into the truck, I couldn’t help but think how fire departments all across the country seem to excel at community outreach. From as far back as I can remember, the local fire department has always made it a priority to connect with the families it serves outside of emergencies. This has always been the case—no matter where I have lived. I thought I would briefly mention three ways that I remember the fire department connecting with the community in non-crisis situations when I was a boy.

Beau loving life hanging in the Spokane Valley Fire Department truck while his new “buddy” stands close by.

Fire Hydrant Flushing – If we thought running through the sprinklers was cool, the annual flushing of fire hydrants took our excitement level up several notches. When we would see a fire truck pull up to the fire hydrant across the street, we would manically get our swimsuits on and wait for the high-pressure soak that was about to ensue. When the fire fighter pulled the valve and the water came bursting out, it momentarily flooded the street, much to our delight. When this happened just a couple years ago at the same fire hydrant across from my parents’ house, Beau was able to experience the same joy I did decades ago. The sticker that one of the fire fighters came him afterwards was a nice touch.

Santa Visits – Perhaps no fire station outreach tactic is as beloved as Santa visits. I have so many beautiful memories of resting in bed on random December evenings only to hear sirens filling the neighborhood. My parents would help my siblings and I get out of bed and hobble out to the front of our house in our pajamas. With canned food in our hands, we would wait for the procession of fire trucks to reach our street with the Christmas light-decorated vehicle towing the rear. Situated in the caboose trailer was Santa Claus himself. After donating our cans to the food drive we would sit on Santa’s lap and get a candy cane. It was purely magical!

Simulated Situation – My family would always attend a Fourth of July celebration at Pioneer Park in Walla Walla. It was something similar to ValleyFest with vendors and community partners present. The fire department would always attend and haul in this small house on a trailer. Children could enter the house and go through a simulated fire emergency. I remember crawling on my knees (where the fresh air is) and locating a door handle to determine whether it was hot (don’t open) or cool (go ahead and open). If my memory serves me correctly, they even pumped in a smoke-like substance to make the simulation even more real. This little house was such an effective way to draw in kids while teaching them some extremely important lessons.

I salute fire fighters everywhere not just for their savvy ways of making their presence known in the community, but for the critical/brave work they do every single day. Let us not take for granted how lucky we are to have a strong fire department infrastructure in this country. Don’t Blink.