We went to the #17 Fire Hall for a field trip to support our learning of Community in Social Studies. What an amazing field trip. The students asked really good questions and behaved so well. I was really proud of them. Please enjoy the photos and videos below. (Sorry I don’t have better photos- it was really dark inside the fire hall).
Firefighter Tyler is explaining the patch on his uniform that identifies him as a Vancouver Fire Fighter.
Mr. Smith slid down the fire pole- Just kidding!
Please click on the link above to see a video of a firefighter sliding down the pole. (Sorry this video is sideways!) They use a fire pole instead of stairs to get to the fire truck fast.
Firefighter Mark is asking the students what kinds of jobs a firefighter does. Some of the jobs include: fighting fires, checking community buildings to ensure they are safe, and helping other community helpers like police and paramedics.
This fire hall has 3 fire trucks.
Fire truck #17 belongs to Fire Hall #17.
Firefighters Mark and Tyler are listening to an announcement. While we were there the firefighters got called to an emergency. This was very exciting! We got to see all the firefighters rush to change their clothes and jump into the fire truck to take off to the emergency. Luckily it was a false alarm and they returned to the fire hall to continue our tour.
This is their fire hall mascot.
This is a picture of the inside of the fire hall with two of the trucks gone on the emergency call. You can see some equipment hanging in the back and lots of pants and shoes left on the floor from the firefighters quickly changing their clothes.
This firefighter explained the equipment he has to wear to protect himself when he goes to fight fires. Some of the equipment includes a heavy jacket, pants, helmet, boots, gloves, oxygen tank as well as a toque to protect his ears from being burned.
The driver’s seat of the fire truck.
This is a Vancouver Valve. It was designed in Vancouver. This valve is special. It is only used during earthquakes. The valve attaches to a water pipe and is able to direct a large flow of water- more than normally used during a fire. The Vancouver Valve is also able to take water directly from the ocean in the case of an emergency. The valve can direct enough water for 10 square blocks.
Firefighter Tyler showing us how firefighters climb onto the truck to access the ladder.
Some very happy students receiving a lot of gifts from the firefighters!
