Fire station's open house draws more than 100 children, adults

Terry Karkos/ Sun Journal
Garbed in his firefighter outfit, 4-year-old Samuel Benson of Dixfield smiles back at mom Patricia Benson after Dixfield Fire Co. junior firefighter Cassie Moretto helped the youngster into the driver's seat of Engine No. 3 during Saturday's four-hour, first-ever Open House.

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- Terry Karkos/Sun Journal

Terry Karkos/Sun Journal
From within a Dixfield firetruck on at Saturday's Dixfield Fire Co. Open House, 4-year-old Samuel Benson of Dixfield watches firefighters help other children into the truck to learn what it's like to be a firefighter. The youngster longs to be a firefighter when he grows up, says mom Patricia Benson.

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- Terry Karkos/Sun Journal

Terry Karkos/Sun Journal
At Saturday's Open House, Dixfield Fire Co. junior firefighter Cassie Moretto, left, and Lt. Jason Hyde try to find 4-year-old Samuel Benson's hands after the youngster asked to wear Hyde's real firefighter jacket and helmet and wanted the sleeves scrunched up so he could see his hands. Getting to wear real firefighters gear was a big hit with more than 100 participating children.

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- Terry Karkos/Sun Journal

Melony Prescott photo
Three of the seven winners of the Dixfield Fire Co. coloring contest at Dirigo Elementary School in Dixfield, also participated in the company's first ever Open House on Saturday. In front from left are Taylor Bryant, first grade; Carly Welch, fourth grade; and Nicole Welch, fifth grade. In back are Chief Scott Dennett, Lt. Jason Hyde, who organized the Open House, and Sparky the Fire Dog from the Mexico Fire Department.

- Melony Prescott

DIXFIELD — During the Dixfield Fire Co.'s first ever open house on Saturday, Samuel Benson of Dixfield was right where he'd always wanted to be since the age of 2: sitting in the driver's seat of a real fire engine.

Dressed in his firefighter rain gear — complete with a helmet and rubber galoshes that his grandmother Karen Footman of Greene bought him — the 4-year-old beamed broadly back at his mom.

“This is just going to make his day,” Patricia Benson said. “I will never hear the end of it.”

Samuel was one of more than 100 children accompanied by several adults who attended the event between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to learn about fire safety, Lt. Jason Hyde said.

“It was amazing,” Hyde said. “Honestly, we were hoping for 10 people in all, so we ran out of food at noon.”

By 12:30 p.m., firefighters had also given out 105 free firefighter helmets to children.

The event was timed to happen at the end of National Fire Prevention week.

Hyde said the volunteer department didn't get to host a fire prevention program in the town's schools, so they held it at the fire station.

They did, however, hold a coloring contest at Dirigo Elementary School. Then, at the open house, they awarded prizes for best in each grade, from pre-kindergarten through five. There were seven winners.

The open house was also the company's way to give back to the community.

“We wanted to get the community involved, to see what we do, because they're the taxpayers and we wanted them to see what they are paying for,” Hyde said. “We also wanted to get the children involved.”

“The big hit today was our gear station, where the kids get to put our gear on and we take pictures of them,” he said. “They loved that. Seeing all of the kids was the payoff today.”

Additionally, another young-crowd pleaser was the Teddy Bear and Doll Clinic, in which nurses from Elsemore Dixfield Family Medicine “diagnosed” illnesses or injuries to children's dolls and teddy bears.

“The nurses bandaged them up and put signs on (the dolls), prescribing lots of hugs and kisses,” Hyde said.

The company, which has served Dixfield since 1893, currently has 23 volunteer firefighters, auxiliary members and junior firefighters.

Samuel Benson would like to boost that number to 24 when he grows up rather than become a police officer like his dad, Mexico Patrolman Dean Benson, Patricia Benson said.

“This is the future firefighter in our family,” she said. “Every time a firetruck goes by, he's in the window yelling, 'Firetruck, mommy! Firetruck!'”

She said her son has been learning about fire prevention all week by watching television. She's also read a book about firefighting to him every night before bedtime.

Children and their parents toured the station, learned how to use fire extinguishers, and met Sparky the Fire Dog from the neighboring Mexico Fire Department and Smokey the Bear from the Maine Forest Service.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com