More than 400 boys and girls come to the opening day of the Saig fire brigade doors / visitors from the district and Switzerland.
The area around the fire station was bordered by barricades. Behind were more than 400 children, mostly of primary and school age, who had come with their parents to the opening day of the Saig fire department doors. Present were Jasmin from Saig, Jasper from Neustadt and Jonas from Schluchsee. “We also have children here from all over Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald and Switzerland,” said Commander Michael Birkenberger, visibly pleased with the positive response to this day of action.
. Of course, on this day the many children got their money, as the Birkenberger organizing team had prepared many hands-on activities and the Saig, Lenzkirch, Neustadt and Freiburg firefighters, district youth firefighters, alpine rescuers from Villingen-Schwenningen, agents from the police headquarters in Freiburg, the Red Cross (DRK) and the German Life Saving Society (DLRG) in Neustadt were on site and were happy to answer questions from the participants. Anyone who wanted could get behind the wheel of a patrol car or a police motorcycle. Of course, this also applied to the blue men from Lenzkirch, Kappel and Neustadt, who were on site in emergency vehicles. “We just want the kids to have fun,” said the commander, although Trffner’s day was obviously also used to introduce aid organizations.
But it wasn’t just the rescue vehicles that attracted the boys and girls. On the contrary, they obviously enjoyed jumping on the bouncy castle, sliding down a long slide, riding a pedal boat, balancing on a slackline, walking on stilts or trying their hand at throwing cans.
There was a big rush for face painting, in the crafts corner of the kindergarten, to dig in the sand and for other activities.
When the rescue of an injured person from a height of 45 meters was shown with a working platform of the Freiburg professional fire brigade, it not only interested children, but also attracted many adults.
“We have 50 to 60 helpers here,” said Commander Michael Birkenberger. They volunteered to register, where each child received a name tag, an invitation to a mini-gathering and a lottery ticket, were active with vehicles and at food stands. There was coffee, tea and cake in the firehouse, cool drinks in the garage. And at lunchtime there were long lines of hungry children who wanted to buy a bratwurst, fries, steak and buns or waffles with powdered sugar. Youth firefighters oversaw a very special campaign. In a smoke tent, children should practice the correct behavior if smoke develops in a room. Crawling was the order of the day, the warden explained, as two teammates in the tent made sure everything went according to plan.
The volunteers were happy to help with the mini gathering. For the little ones there were activities to master such as “Run fast to the big fire truck and feel like a real firefighter or fire woman there”. The older ones had a little more difficulty: “How high can the aerial work platform be extended” and “If someone gets injured, who do you call” were two of six questions that needed to be answered correctly. If all the questions on the slip of paper were answered correctly, small or big surprises were rewarded with lots in the kindergarten foyer.
