Friday morning I went on a field trip with Caleb and the other first grade classes to the Delaware Firefighting training school!  It was pretty awesome, to say the least.  In short, Caleb got to spray a hose, we were in the burn house and they set it on fire (definitely high on the cool factor), they played in a house with rooms only three or four feet high, and we saw how a fireman puts on his protective gear.

The point of the trip was to teach kids fire safety, and show them a fireman in uniform (see below) so that in the event that one of these kids is trapped in a burning building they won’t be afraid when this guy shows up looking scary to save to them.  It was all done really, really well.  The kids had a blast and seemed to learn a lot.

And yes, they did light the burn house while we were in it.  That was really, really cool.  Basically, they have these brick houses they use to train firefighters in so they get used to fighting fire in a controlled environment.  They grouped us all in one room while they set a fire in the neighboring room.  There was a plexi-glass shield in the doorway so we could see the fire but not touch it.  The point was to show the kids how fire acts and what the smoke does.  Basically, to underscore the importance of getting out and staying low while you do it.

All in all, it was a great field trip!  Fun AND educational!