The Hawkesbury fire station was crowded full of children on October 12, during the station’s first-ever open house.
Two little girls from the Paul VI Catholic Elementary School are seen here at the Hawkesbury Fire Department open house on October 12. (Photo: Tara Kirkpatrick)
Hawkesbury Fire Chief Roger Champagne told The Review that he wanted to do something a little bit different this year. Usually firefighters go to the various schools during fire prevention week and help to run fire drills. This year, Champagne said the decision was made to bring the children to the fire station and to show them the tools used by firefighters, while also teaching them about fire safety.
Champagne said he was a little bit nervous prior to the event, as he was unsure how many kids would be attending. He speculated that as many as 300 kids would probably visit the firehouse during the open house, which ran from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
The event ended up drawing nearly double that many kids. Paul VI Catholic Elementary School arrived at 9 a.m. with around 60 kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students. They were soon joined by around 100 students from Le Sommet High School. Nouvel Horizon Elementary School was originally supposed to visit with a few classes. Instead, more than 225 children arrived at the fire hall for a visit. Many of the children walked over to the fire hall, which is located on Spence Street, not far from the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital.
A second open house took place on Saturday, October 15 and was geared more towards the general public.
