Photos by Ryan Cain

(l-r) County Clerk Maureen O'Connell, Asst. Chief Charles Cavarra, Chief James Meehan, Asst. Chief William Castoro, Councilman Ed Ambrosino, Mayor Peter Bee, Nassau County Legislator Vincent Muscarella & Village Trustee Nicholas Episcopia. Hundreds of Garden City residents attended the Garden City Fire Department's annual Fire Prevention Day and Open House on Sunday, October 5th. The fire department holds this event each year in conjunction with National Fire Prevention Week. Some of the safety areas the fire department emphasized through live demonstrations and handout reference literature were the importance of home fire safety, candle safety, electrical safety, smoke detector use and fire extinguishers. New to the program was the BullsEye fire extinguisher training simulator. The simulator was obtained through a grant obtained by Garden City's own New York State Senator Kemp Hannon, who was on hand to dedicate the new training aid which will be used to train both firefighters and civilians in fire extinguisher use.

Also, the fire department conducted live demonstrations of its vehicle extrication equipment, roof ventilation saws and a firefighter rescue simulation. Children were also treated with sitting in fire trucks, an antique fire engine and operating a real fire hose. According to Fire Chief James Meehan, "It was a fabulous day. We met our goal of stressing the importance of fire safety and education, introducing our residents to the fire department and, of course, having a fun-filled day together with our residents." Chief Meehan continued, "I also wanted to acknowledge the hard work of Assistant Chief William Castoro, for planning and organizing the days events, he has done an outstanding job."

Lt. Matt Tittler, Firefighter Dave Hronchic & Firefighter George Mavrakis operate the "Jaws of Life" to remove car door.

Senator Kemp Hannon & Firefighter Mark Holobigian show simulator to youngster. Firefighter Steve Anderson demonstrates roof ventilation saws to residents. Junior Firefighters (high school students) assist in demonstrations. Ex-Capt. Ron Zwicke coordinates youngsters coloring educational fire safety items.