The Po-Mar-Lin Fire Company's open house on Monday evening drew a big crowd to downtown Unionville. You couldn't miss the flashing red lights down the center of Route 82.
Kids got to meet real firefighters and see fire trucks and bunker gear up close, and there was plenty of swag for all to take home, like helmets, stickers, pencils and rulers. The energetic Philly Phanatic mascot was there, as was a pharmacist from Acme giving flu shots (I got one, and he was so adept I didn't even feel the injection).
The firefighters did a demo of how they rescue car-crash victims by smashing car windows, forcing open the doors and cutting off the roof. I was amazed at how efficiently they turned a junk car into a convertible.
I had fun catching up with John "Jackie" Weer, the county fire marshal, and Robin Mastrippolito of Embreeville, who was there cuddling her adorable new grandson and selling Po-Mar-Lin sweatshirts. I learned that if you designate Po-Mar-Lin as your Amazon.com charity, Amazon will donate 0.5 percent of your purchases to the fire company. Every little bit helps, the volunteer said.
I also talked to a woman from the Pennsylvania State Animal Response Team (maybe you've seen their white trailer parked behind the fire house). She explained that they partner with the fire company to handle emergencies involving animals -- in recent months, a cow that wandered into a manure pit and a horse that got stuck in mud. She gave me information about putting together a "disaster preparedness plan" for pets in case of disasters like severe storms.
Given the financial and staffing stress that volunteer fire companies are under the days, the open house was a smart way to show people how hard the volunteers work and to try to drum up more community support.
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