Life in a small town

Today was a big day in our little town.  Our volunteer fire department (Freiwillige Feuerwehr) had an open house. But it was more than just a chance to check out the fire trucks - it seemed to be some opportunity for public education, especially aimed at kids. Of course, the adults came as well, but the constant flow of beer probably helped more for that.

A firefighter helps to nail the wheels onto a child's woodblock firetruck (above). I stuck to the papercrafts and assembled a paper firetruck. I also got a children's coloring book with Funki the fire rescue dog (German version of Smoky?). A little silly, but I actually learn a lot of vocabulary from kid's books.

The rescue ladder from Tübingen was in our town for the day, and people had the chance to take a ride. Unfortunately we were next in line when they had to stop.

There is nothing like a grease fire to draw a crowd. I think this was one of the "public education" aspects of the day.

Here is the youth volunteer fire brigade putting out a fire. They had a bit of trouble to aim the hoses, but managed it in the end.

And finally, the fire department showed off their "jaws of life": the cutter tool and the expander tool (which I didn't know existed), to "rescue" our poor neighbor boy from this car. It was a hot day and he was in that car for a good half hour.

Just another slow Sunday in our small town.