The Champaign Fire Department added extra flair to the downtown station’s annual open house Sunday.

The event was part of 2009’s Fire Prevention Week.

“I think it’s going beautifully, it’s such a nice day there’s so many people out here,” said Dena Schumacher, fire education specialist with the Champaign Fire Department.

In addition to a tour of the fire station, the department held a safety fair where attendees could learn about fire safety, disaster safety, accident prevention and basic household safety from ‘ports’ or booths. Each person received a ‘Passport to Safety’, a booklet designed to look just like a U.S. passport with questions to ask each expert about their field.

There were seven ports each with their own theme, offering demonstrations, pamphlets, souvenirs, and tours of emergency vehicles. The downtown fire station has been hosting its open house for 20 years, but this year introduced the ‘Passport to Safety’ theme with presentations from different relief and emergency services in Champaign County.

In the basement of the station attendees could visit ‘A Taste of History’ and learn more about the fire station and firefighting.

“I’ve seen a lot of retired people coming through here bringing their grandchildren,” said Schumacher.

Safety instruction is a personal issue to Schumacher and her own loss gave her the idea to have presentations on all different aspects of safety and accident prevention.

“I think the reason I choose to focus on unintentional injuries by inviting community support personnel from a variety of agencies was because this year, on June 19th I lost my niece in an ATV crash,” said Schumacher, “When things strike you personally that’s when you say ‘Ok that’s why I’m doing this’, so we can help other people not have the pain we go through.”

The Champaign branch of the American Red Cross port had maps of Champaign County, safety pamphlets on preparedness, and workbooks for children in kindergarten through middle school on home safety and what to do in a disaster.

Illinois Poison Control provided dosage tubes for children so that parents can measure out the proper amounts of medicine to give children.

“Medicines aren’t poison,” said Patty Metzler, a registered nurse with Illinois Poison Control, “but if you take them wrong, they could be.”

Arrow Ambulances with Carle Foundation Hospital gave tours of the inside of an ambulance as well as coloring books and pamphlets with information on first aid and injuries.

The Emergency Services Support Team and its two trained dogs, Neo and Quinn, were present with their support van. Both are trained sympathy dogs with ESST who provide comfort to people volunteers have been called to help.

“It’s a proven fact that if someone is petting a dog it relaxes him,” said Kathy Trammel, volunteer at ESST and Neo’s handler.

The van also contains seating, bottled water, blankets, toys, towels, and a minifridge. Harold Trammel, ESST volunteer and husband of Kathy Trammel said that ESST volunteers stay with families after emergency services have left until someone can come to care for them or to connect them with community services.

The fire department had a safety house, which was a trailer with a kitchen, ground floor bedroom, and second floor bedroom. Children could go into the first floor bedroom where a firefighter told them how to get out of their room in a fire. At the control panel outside the room another firefighter filled the room with theatrical smoke.

“We can set it so the door is warm, so then they practice coming out the window,” said Janet Mauphin, Deputy Fire Marshall with the Champaign Fire Department.

The second floor bedroom had a ladder attached to the side of the trailer below the bedroom window children could practice climbing down.

“We want them to talk to their parents about having a meeting place should they have to evacuate their home,” said Mauphin.

Outside the safety trailer a fake lamppost with cardboard dog dressed in firefighter gear served as the trailers meeting place.

United Services, or USPRO, gave tours of their First Response Vehicle. The vehicle is self-sustained and has its own lights and electricity. It contains basic personal hygiene items such as toothbrushes and diapers. USPRO provides a prepaid cell phone to people who have lost theirs in the accident and provides one night in a hotel room.

“Everything we do is covered by the insurance company so there’s no cost out of pocket,” said Jeff Raaymakers of USPRO. “As the fire departments getting ready to leave the scene, they typically break windows, cut holes in roofs, to allow the smoke to get out of the residence … we come right after they leave to board up and secure the properties.”

An intern from the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District office informed children and adults on germ safety. Grazie d’Agostino, junior in AHS, demonstrated proper hand washing techniques and spoke on the importance of covering coughs and sneezes in the midst of the H1N1 outbreak.

The Champaign Police Department also gave instructions on proper bike safety. Patrol officer Jeremiah Canales instructed children how to tell if their bike tires were properly inflated for the surface they were driving on and the importance of wearing a helmet.

Schumacher said she was happy with the way the open house turned out. She estimated that about 150 people were present by four o’clock.

“They seem to be coming in groups,” she said, “I’ve seen a lot of families.”