Continuing their emergency theme, the junior infants took a trip to the fire station and the RNLI lifeboat station where they were treated to a full tour and had all their questions answered.
First stop was the fire station where we met firemen Ian and Joe! Ian and Joe gave us a full tour from what happens when their bleeper goes off to alert them to a call, how they know where to go and the uniform they have to wear to keep them safe while fighting fires. We got to try some of the uniform on and were amazed at how heavy (and slightly stinky) all the equipment is!
Next, we went to see the huge engines!!! There were two engines in the stations and Ian explained that one is a general fire engine while the second engine is a snorkel - an engine which has a huge ladder and cage on the back that they only use for fighting fires that are really high up.
We then had a tour of the fire engine and couldn’t believe the vast amount of equipment stored on board. They carry all sorts of machinery to help if someone is stuck in a car that has been involved in a crash, as well as all the things they need for a variety of different fires.
We were beside ourselves when the firemen said we could actually get into the fire truck! It was so big that we needed some adults to help us climb in and out - it was really high up!
As if that wasn’t exciting enough, we then got to use the real fire fighting hoses! They are very strong, far too strong for junior infants even though they were on low power, so to make sure we were safe fireman Joe helped us! It was so much fun!
We got to take home some fridge magnets and saving boxes too! We also had the opportunity to give Joe and Ian some thank you cards we had made for the fire service! We know what an important job they do helping to keep us safe and its important to thank them for their service to our community.
We set off on the next leg of our adventure and stopped at the play park on the way!
We also managed to squeeze in a quick hot chocolate treat before getting to our last stop!
Next up was the RNLI lifeboat station! But before we got there we saw the all weather boat which is docked on the quay because its too big for the station house! We took some time for lunch on the black castle and had so much fun rolling around the grass and climbing on the anchors!
We went for our tour in the lifeboat house and John, Carol, Andrew and the team gave us a demonstration of their equipment. We got to see amazing videos of real life rescues they have taken part in recently and gave us tips on how to stay safe in the water.
The crew brought us to the in shore boat and we all got to climb on board! The life boat crew are volunteers who all work very hard, day and night, to make sure that all who use the water are safe! We were delighted to be able to acknowledge their brave work by giving them thank you cards we made for them. As this voluntary organisation relies heavily on donations to fund their work, the families in Junior infants all clubbed together and raised an amazingly generous €180 which was presented to the crew from Nun’s Cross National School Junior Infants.
We had an absolutely fantastic day out and we are so grateful to all our emergency services for all they bravely do to keep us all safe!
