Russell led us down into the hanger where the engineer's were busy working on the helicopters. We had a quick look around one of CHC's Eurocopter 225 Pumas in the hanger before being taken over to one of the Sikorsky S92s. The boys were allowed to take a seat on this helicopter before, one by one visiting the cockpit where one of the engineers explained some of the controls and instruments to them. Fantastic!It had been arranged that we would now be driven across the apron to visit the fire-station on the other side. However, it was a very cold day and the vehicles were all needed to help de-ice the runway! Instead we ended up ferrying kids and adults to the fire-station in two groups (luckily Harry's Dad, who was helping out, has a 7 seater). This worked out perfectly as it meant our Beaver's ended up going round the fire-station in groups of 3 or 4.
Blue Watch was on duty and Fire-woman Jan took our group. First of all we went up to the control room where Neil explained to the boys how he would coordinate the crews in the event of a fire. Then he turned out the lights to give us a front-row seat from which to watch a couple of planes taking off and landing.After that we went back downstairs to the fire engines where Jan had the boys trying on fire suits, testing out the heat sensitive cameras, learning about the breathing apparatus and sounding the fire-engine's sirens. We finished up much later than planned (sorry parents!), but it was worth it as the kids (and leaders) had a great time.
A very special thanks to Amanda Sellers from CHC Scotia and Phil Townsend from the Airport Fire Service for helping to arrange the visit and, of course, to Russell and everyone from Blue Watch for showing us around.
