Annual Plymouth Fire Department Open House Oct. 15

Ever dreamed of riding a fire truck to Dairy Queen?

You could win just that at this annual's Plymouth Fire Department Open House noon to 3 p.m. at Plymouth Fire Station No. 3, 3300 Dunkirk Ln. N.

This year kids can enter their name in a drawing for a free ride on a fire truck to Dairy Queen and ice cream treats for their family.

Plymouth firefighters have a couple of new things on hand for this year's open house including using a stove and live fire to demonstrate the power of a grease fire and how it reacts to water, flour and baking soda.

The fire department has also have taken a door from an apartment in the Parkside Apartment fire that is charred black on the top and clean on the bottom and will use it to demonstrate the importance of crawling low in smoke or fire.

A third new, hands-on tool is a double hung window display where kids will be asked to open the window and hang a bright colored shirt out of it to flag the attention of firefighters.

“The Open House is a great opportunity to have fun together as a family and learn about safety at the same time. We hope that people will spend the afternoon with us,” said Fire Chief Rick Kline.

Families will have a chance to experience the world of emergency service providers through demonstrations, displays and hands-on activities.

You can also buy a new bike helmet with closeout prices ranging from $5 to $15. You can try the department's thermal imaging cameras, which are a life saving technology used in search and rescue operations.

Of course, the old favorites are also there, including shooting water from a fire hose and checking out North Memorial's aircare helicopter and meet firefighters, paramedics and emergency service providers. Also there will be two inflatable bouncers and food from .

Remember to bring non perishable food items being collected for Interfaith Outreach.