Fire department hosts open house

Kids have fun, learn safety skills at annual event.

Sebastyan, 9, and his brother Zackaryah, 3, pose on the back of a fire truck at the Gettysburg Fire Department station during the department's open house.

Gettysburg Fire Department hosted its annual open house Sunday, offering families and kids the chance to see up close how things run. Children could earn a "Fire Prevention Passport to Safety" by visiting stations that taught important safety skills like how to call 9-1-1, how to 'stop, drop, and roll,' and how to use a fire extinguisher. Trucks, apparatus and uniforms were all on display, and many members of the department were on hand to engage with the youngsters.

Clockwise from top left: Max and Rachel Lucieer stand with their son Thomas, 7, in the station's control room; friends Allie, 9, Caleb, 7, Brantley, 9, and Talan, 5, stand against one of the department's emergency vehicles; Eleanor Heyser, 4, plays with some of the fire obstacle course elements; Malachy, 3, makes his way through the 'smoke tunnel' in the obstacle course; Theodore Heyser, 1, picks up foam rings from the obstacle course to help clean up; fire police volunteer Annie Grabenstein explains how to 'stop, drop, and roll' to Zackaryah.