A fiery field trip

Xena had missed a school trip to the fire station because she was in the hospital. I'd promised her that we'd take her after she recovered. So I furiously googled on what I needed to do and which permits were needed and what was the fee to take a tour of a fire station.

I was in for a pleasant surprise. Apparently, several fire stations in Singapore open their doors to the public on Saturday mornings and all you need to do it to turn up. No permits, no fees, no restrictions. The firemen show you around and even give you demonstrations of the fire-fighting equipment. At the end of the trip, all kids get a complimentary firefighter's uniform and a hat. Her teachers had been nice enough to get her a hat during the trip that she missed, but we were all set to see what a real fire station was all about.

This is an old photo of her in her homemade firefighter uniform for her school project. 

Her school had visited the Paya Lebar fire station; I picked Changi fire station because it was easier to get to by bus. We planned the trip with with another family -- their little girl used to be in Xena's class before she moved to another preschool.

Xena is thrilled to be reunited with her old classmate (cropped out of the picture). Remember the good old days when we held hands with our best friends?

A few other families too were there too. We were greeted by very friendly fireman who'd just finished a drill. They showed us the huge fire trucks and patiently answered all of Viv's geeky questions, while Xena and I explored around.

Xena 'driving' a real fire truck!

Xena operates the fire-fighting hose. The friendly fireman taught her how to control the force and volume of the water jet. 

The firemen slide down the pole.

Xena trying to copy 'fireman uncle'

Try #1

Try #2

Try #3

She's finally done and hops off.

The firemen then invited us to take a tour aboard a firefighting truck -- in the part that actually goes up 10 storeys to douse the fire! Viv, with his vertigo, promptly declined so I turned to plead with Xena. She took one look at how high the thing went and promptly sided with her father. Sheesh. I didn't want to be the only one going up so I declined it too. 

The other family went up without hesitation, and even took their 1-year-old along!

Xena saw her friend travel up and down and seemed a little excited. One of the firemen saw her face and asked her if she wanted to go. She shook her head. He then said, "What if we don't go too high? Would you want to go then?" She said yes. I was thrilled! Viv said he'd stay and take pictures of us from below. 

The fireman strapping the safety harness on Xena and me

Up, up and away we go! I loved it, and so did Xena. 

Overall, it was a great family outing. It was more fun than educational, in fact. Viv was perhaps the only one who came back a little more educated about the fire station, the firemen and the fire-fighting equipment. We will definitely be going back in a few months' time, and I'm sure Xena will understand a bit more of the goings-on then. 

Dwellers of Singapore, if you're interested to go, here is the link to the SCDF website, listing the fire stations that offer this.