37th Annual Fire Parade and Muster to light up Littleton

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

On June 17, dozens of fire trucks will cruise with lights flashing down Main Street in Littleton.

The convoy, which might look at first glance like a spectacular emergency response, will be part of the 37th Annual Fire Parade and Muster, an event hosted by Mile High Hook and Ladder Club.

The antique fire apparatus club hosts the free, family-friendly event on Father’s Day weekend in partnership with South Metro Fire Rescue each year.

The event will give attendees a chance to appreciate antique and modern fire trucks, learn about fire service history and experience the tools and tricks of emergency response personnel up close.

“We not only get to parade down Littleton’s Main Street, but it draws a crowd of (2,200 – 2,500) people and we get to show off our trucks so they get to admire them,” said Pete Webb, former president club member for over 20 years.

The parade will begin at Bannock Street and Littleton Boulevard at 9 a.m.

After the procession, fire vehicles will gather in the parking lot at Arapahoe Community College for the “muster” until 1 p.m. A muster is a gathering of fire and rescue services that provides activities, education and entertainment to the community.

“Kids get to use real fire hoses and they get to talk to firemen,” Hook and Ladder member Mark Gorman said. “We cut some cars apart. The kids get to pick up the tools that the firemen use, and they ask questions and their imagination gets to run wild.”

Some highlights of the muster this year will include opportunities to ride a fire truck, shoot a fire hose, try on bunker gear and learn safety tips from The South Metro Safety Foundation, the Children’s Hospital Colorado Burn Camps Program, the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, the National Weather Service and more.

There will also be a live automobile extrication demonstration, during which firefighters from South Metro Fire Rescue will use a piece of machinery called “Jaws of Life” to pry apart a crushed car to remove a volunteer “accident victim,” showing just one example of an emergency that firefighters respond to.

There will also be a dem- onstration that shows the importance of sprinklers in extinguishing fires.

“We also have a sprinkler trailer demonstration from the National Fire Sprinkler Association where they’re gonna have this trailer where they set a fire to it and then sprinklers extinguish the fire,” Webb said. “It shows the benefit of sprinklers, whether it’s in a commercial setting or a home setting.”

Attendees will get to watch the Children’s Hospital Colorado Children’s One Flight Team land their neonatal/pediatric emergency helicopter.

Kids will also have the chance to do “maggot art” with the Arapahoe County Coroner, dipping live maggots into paint and letting them crawl around paper as they learn about entomology and forensic investigations.

South Metro Fire Rescue communications manager Eric Hurst said he appreciates the community connection that comes from the event each year.

“As a (South Metro Fire Rescue) employee who remembers going into the fire muster when I was in elementary school, it’s just really cool for me to be able to be there and answer questions and inspire the next generation of our personnel to maybe want to apply one day,” he said.

Swedish Medical Center, the largest sponsor of this year’s event, will also be present at the event to talk about their level 1 trauma center, said Hook and Ladder member Paula Weins.

Hook and Ladder members recommend that families attending with kids bring a change of clothes for their children, as there are many opportunities for them to get soaked at the event.