Just before the summer holidays, on our last Squirrels session of term, we swapped from our usual location at the Scout hut to a Fire Station. There was much excitement on display from the Squirrels as we entered the building and met the evening shift crew at Northfield Fire Station.

First we stood around in the circle out in the back yard, and Butterfly read a book all about firefighters to us. Then the epic fun began! All the Squirrels were given the chance to hold the hose and knock over a cone across the yard, with the help of one of the firefighters – that was some serious water power, with shrieks of laughter to go with it.

Thankfully no emergency calls came in whilst we were there, so we got to have a good look around the fire engine. The firefighters showed us their tools for cutting up crashed cars, which were really heavy when we tried lifting them, and we had to be careful because they’re super sharp. No look around a fire engine would be complete without a sit inside the fire engine cab; we even got to try on a real helmet whilst we sat amongst all the clothing and kit – that brought a smile to lots of Squirrel faces, just about visible below the huge hat on their heads!

To finish off, we headed inside the station, where a firefighter talked us through his breathing equipment as well as some fire safety advice. He invited one of the parents to dress up in his full firefighting uniform, which went down well with the Squirrels, as they learned the importance of personal protective equipment for his job. 

Of course the very last thing we had to watch was the crew sliding down the pole. We lined up in two rows, and waited for the alarm to be sounded. At lightning speed, three firefighters came racing down the pole from upstairs and ran between our rows to the engine, just like they would in a real emergency.

The whole experience was a great way to end the term, and I have a feeling many of the Squirrels would like to visit again some time.