By MADDY VITALE
Families filled the Ocean City Fire Department headquarters Thursday night to enjoy the annual Open House.
Children got to try their hand at holding the firehose, with a little help from a firefighter, to extinguish a “blaze” while others ran through mazes, got their faces painted and learned the correct way to drop and roll should a fire break out.
The annual event coincides with national Fire Prevention Month and is geared toward showing the community just what the fire department does and how the equipment works, along with plenty of hotdogs, snacks and other goodies.
Meghan and Jim Murray, of Ocean City, attend the open house every year with their sons, Carson, 4, and 6-year-old Lincoln.
The family sat at a table as the boys, wearing plastic toy fire hats, munched on some hotdogs.
“They love it. This is their favorite event of the year,” Meghan Murray noted.
Fire Chief Jim Smith looked at the crowd of children and their parents enjoying the open house.
“This is an opportunity for the community to see the professionalism and the knowledge of our department. They get to see how the equipment works and hopefully, they get a sense of safety from seeing what we do in our job,” Smith said. “I have such great people here and seeing them interacting with the community when it isn’t an emergency is great.”
Some parents, such as Jackie Myers, of Ocean City, said the demonstrations were educational.
One was a simulated home, the back of a doll house furnished and in the different rooms there were dangers such as smoke in one and fire in another.
Myers’ daughters, Anya, 4, and 6-year-old daughter, Sophia, watched in amazement at the faux sparks and smoke coming from the model home.
“This is such an amazing event. It really is fun just seeing the kids smiling,” she said.
Olivia Kalatsjov, 6, of Ocean City, held the fire hose very carefully, with the help of a firefighter to douse a faux flame.
“Every year we come. It is definitely amazing and there are so many kids here this year,” Olivia’s mother, Evie Kalatsjov, said.
Some children raced around and took in all that the event had to offer. Liam Kane, of Ocean City, and his buddies, Jason Frost, Zion Keenan, Michael Zimmerman and Cole Selby and Asher Blake, all in primary school, zipped around the fire house practiced some drop and rolls and went through the maze.
Sue McElwee, of Ocean City, brought her daughters, Mason, 10, and 5-year-old Harlow for the fun, just as she has for the last couple of years.
“They do so many cool things in Ocean City. I think it is really fun for the kids to be able to interact with the fire department,” she said.
Mayor Jay Gillian and City Council President Pete Madden were among the dignitaries in attendance.
Law enforcement officials, including officers from the Ocean City Police Department, chatted with attendees while handing out informational pamphlets and other items.
Hank, a German shepherd, an igniter fluid sniffing dog, was a star for the evening. Fire Investigator/K-9 Handler Rod Meyer, of the state Fire Marshal’s Office, allowed children to pet Hank, since he was off duty.
