PORT TOWNSEND — East Jefferson Fire Rescue will host its fourth Fire Rescue Fest today, celebrating the history and service of first responders in Port Townsend.
The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of the East Jefferson Fire Rescue’s Station 1, 701 Harrison St. The event will take up two blocks of Lawrence Street, from Van Buren Street to Fillmore Street, Community Risk Manager Robert Wittenberg said.
“This is a festival celebrating the 153rd anniversary of the fire service in Port Townsend,” Wittenberg said.
The service was established in 1872, Wittenberg added. The oldest record of fire service in Port Townsend is a receipt for the purchase of hay for the horses pulled some of the equipment, he added.
The family-friendly event will include information and demonstrations about how firefighters worked historically and how they work today.
Wittenberg called the historical demonstrations a live action museum.
“We will have a bucket brigade that the public can participate in,” he said. “We’ve got a horse-drawn hand pumper, which, using a couple of horses, is going to draw that appliance up the street and be able to draw and pump and let people participate in pumping the water.”
The demonstrations and opportunities for firsthand participation will extend to modern methods too.
“We’re going to show how we have these lengths of hose and you have to put them together properly so that you can actually pressurize,” he said.
When the hoses have been connected, children and adults will be given an opportunity to spray them.
Education on proper use of fire extinguishers also will be provided. Attendees will have a chance to use an extinguisher on a live propane fire, Wittenberg said.
“People can feel what the heat feels like when you’re that close to a fire, and it gives them a gauge on what kind of distance they can be doing things from,” he said. “We’ll be driving home the mechanics of pull, aim, squeeze and sweep, just to get them used to that concept.”
Wittenberg placed importance on developing muscle memory.
EJFR educators will provide a demonstration to illustrate why cooking fires are so dangerous.
“We’re going to show what actually happens when you pour a small amount of water into an oil fire that’s cooking on the stove,” he said.
Cooking fires are a leading cause of home fires, Wittenberg said. Many times they occur when people become distracted from what they are cooking, whether it be a phone call, a conversation or something on television, he added.
“If you’ve got oil in a pot and you’re heating it up and you ignore it, it can get to the point of actual ignition,” Wittenberg said. “Most people think, if I see a fire, I’ve gotta put water on it. The reality is that water sinks when it gets into oil; oil rises above. If you pour water into that oil, it will sink to the bottom, rapidly heat up, and water expands to about 1,700 times its volume when it turns to steam.”
The water, expanded into steam, pushes the burning oil out and over the top of the pot.
In a pan cooking about a quarter cup of oil, a quarter cup of water makes flames go about 10 feet into the air, Wittenberg said.
Some equipment will be present on site, and crews will be happy to show people around and answer questions, Wittenberg said.
“Our crews will still be in service,” he said. “Of course, if a call occurs, they’ll need to take care of that emergency response.”
Congresswoman Emily Randall, D-Bremerton, also will be present and will speak.
Wittenberg said he invited her because he wanted to communicate that communities on the western end of Washington state are facing real concerns around fire.
“We’ve got some good support at the state, but at the federal level, we would definitely like to see that support for the efforts we’re doing here to mitigate that fire risk,” he said.
________
Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com.
