The South Schenectady Fire Department help their annual fire prevention open house on Wednesday, October 6, 2021.

The South Schenectady Fire Department opened their doors to their community with the help from the Rotterdam Police Department and the Rotterdam Emergency Medical Services with a lot to do for the families of the community including tours of the Ambulances, child safety IDs, tours of the fire department, multiple bounce houses that were a massive hit with the large amount of children that attended the event, and face painting. Firefighters also handed out items to the children and their parents and also offered demonstrations of the fire equipment firefighters use daily. One of the other big hits of the open house was one of the members dogs chubs who absolutely stole the hearts of numerous children as he pranced around the event with his owner.

One of the big items that the fire department does every year is a live fire demonstration and this year‘s demonstration was a cooking fires. The fire department showed everyone what not to do when deep frying a turkey as the holidays are approaching quickly. With over 100 people watching the demonstration firefighters lowered a frozen turkey into a overfilled pot of oil and as the oil overflowed onto the fire causing a rapid flash fire to occur. Firefighters quickly knocked down the fire but this offered a valuable lesson to parents and the children on the dangers of grease fires and cooking fires.

The open house was a major success and the parents that talked to Sidewinder Photography stated every year they look forward to coming to the fire house and enjoying this event with their children. This is a true asset to the community and they are grateful that the men and women of the South Schenectady Fire Department are willing to volunteer their time for the safety and compassion of the community.