Community members crowded into the engine bays of Clark County Fire District 6 Station 61 on Saturday to get a taste for what their local public safety officials do.
Adults and children alike watched as firefighters demonstrated putting out flames, toured ambulances and watched on as Clark County Sheriff’s Office police dogs showed off their skills.
Saturday was 10-year-old Amma Evans’ first time coming out for the open house. She said she enjoyed taking the junior firefighter challenge, where she used a hose to put out a fake fire.
She had one word to sum up her experience: “Wow.”
“They’re impressive and daring,” she said of the firefighters who worked there. “They’re risking themselves to go into a burning building.”
Attendance for the annual open house was lower than years previous, agency spokesman Dave Schmitke said, and the reason was record-setting temperatures. Temperatures reached 97 degrees on Saturday, smashing a previous record for the date of 90 degrees set in 2003.
But the fire staff who showed up despite the blazing heat, Schmitke said, is what the event is all about.
“People here at the fire district are so invested,” he said.
Schmitke pointed to firefighter Bill Dunlap, who finished a 24-hour shift at 8 a.m. Saturday, went home to take a shower and came back an hour later to help set up.
“You have to really love the community to put turnouts on when its 95 degrees out,” he said. “Dunlap’s a guy you want at every call. There’s not one call where he doesn’t go 110 percent and he puts the same energy in interacting with the community.”
