Sayville Fire Department Open House heats up the night

Rapturous shouts filled the air as Sayville Fire Department members extinguished a mock living room fire outside their headquarters, wrapping up an open house featuring demonstrations that taught residents of all ages about fire and smoke safety.

A few hundred people attended the Sayville Fire Department’s inaugural open house on Friday, Oct. 25, where firefighters, through demonstrations like dissemmbling a wrecked vehicle and extinguishing small fires, taught residents about their work and how to prevent and handle fire emergencies.

“It was a blast, we had a really good turnout,” said Sayville Fire Department second assistant chief, and fire prevention coordinator, Donald Marra, after the event. “As fun as it was, there was a fire safety lesson behind everything we did.”

Children learned how to stop, drop, and roll in smokey conditions, extinguish small fires, and more through demonstration areas located around the Sayville Fire Department headquarters’ parking lot. Free food and refreshments were provided by Chick-Fil-A, Taco Bell, and Uncle Giuseppe’s.

As the night began, a ladder firetruck lowered a tethered “Spider Man,” in Sayville Fire Department apparel, down from the firehouse roof, to the delight of children, some of whom came dressed as the web-slinging hero.

Sayville Fire Department Station 1 first lieutenant Andrew Dinkel, who played “Spider Man” credited assistant chief Marra for making the whole open house possible. Months went into planning the open house, and other outreach initiatives through Fire Prevention Safety Month.

Sayville Fire Department members visited every school in the Sayville area to teach children about fire safety, and recruit teenagers into its Junior Firefighter Cadets program. Teenagers 14-16 who join the cadets, after one year, are eligible to join the Sayville Fire Department when they turn 17.

Another part of that outreach included a fire safety poster contest, in which hundreds of students from Lincoln and Sunrise Drive Elementary Schools submitted designs that decorated the fire department’s truck room.

Along with the posters, one of the most eye-catching moments of the open house night was a living room fire demonstration, in which a small ignition completely engulfed a mock living room in flames after just a few minutes. A display bedroom, joined to the living room, didn’t light up immediately, though, since a connecting door stayed closed- teaching attendees the importance of containing a fire.

Assistant chief Marra, who narrated the firefighting procedures over a microphone, hyped up the waiting crowds before the big fire. After giving the microphone to one child, who said “I want to be a firefighter!” the dozens of kids circling around the mock living room eagerly repeated the phrase until ignition.

The desire to fight fires at any age or ability isn’t just a phrase to Marra.

“Spider Man was sprinkled into [the event] for entertainment value, but everybody can be the superhero in your home when it comes to fire safety,” Marra said.

To learn more about the Sayville Fire Department, and how to join, visit www.sayvillefd.org.