The sopping wet weather on Saturday may have been bad for soccer games, but it was great for attendance at the 2017 police and fire department open house, organizers said.
As many as 1,000 adults and children visited police and fire department headquarters at 410-428 Green Bay Road in the morning and early afternoon to tour the departments in their joint building, watch safety demonstrations and view department equipment, Deputy Fire Chief John Ripka said Monday.
As has been the case each year, the open house corresponded to the end of National Fire Prevention Week, according to the village website.
“We had a really good crowd, which may have been because the park district probably had to cancel all their soccer games, and people wanted something interesting to do with their families,” Ripka joked.
The rain meant the fire department pulled most of its safety demonstrations, including rappelling, inside department vehicle quarters, although the automobile extrication exercise had to stay outdoors, Ripka said.
“It was a great success,” Interim Police Chief Marc Hornstein said. “We were thrilled because we were worried the weather would put a damper on attendance. That wasn’t the case.”
At the police department, visitors could meet police officers, tour the department’s lock-up and firearms range, sit in a police squad car, and learn more about the village’s move to a new consolidated fire and police dispatch system, Hornstein said.
The annual open house is a chance for members of the police department to show their appreciation to the community and give residents insight into police duties, he said.
“It’s a popular event. We have people who, even though they’ve come to the open house in previous years, will come back again and again because they enjoy it,” Hornstein said.
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