The Wandering Disciple

In the infancy of the fire service, horse drawn carriages were the primary tool for fire brigades.  As technology advanced, the fire service quickly upgraded to horseless carriages or antique fire trucks like the one here from the Sarasota Fire Department Open House.  Today's fire engines are multi-million dollar engineering marvels.  (Photo: October 7, 2006)

The stars and stripes proudly flies from Truck 1 during the Sarasota County Fire Departments annual open house event in 2012. Truck 1 is the primary ladder truck tasked with responding to emergencies in downtown Sarasota. (Photo: October 6, 2012)

A special operations technician with the Sarasota County Fire Department demonstrates a high angle rescue at the training facility. Every year in October, the men and women of the SCFD showcase their skills for the public at the annual Fire Prevention Open House. (Photo: October 7, 2006)

Head out to Fire Station 5 at Fruitville Road and Beneva Road in Sarasota on Saturday for the Annual Fire Prevention Open House. Hosted by the Sarasota County Fire Department, the event features live fire demonstrations, vehicle displays, games for the kids, food and much more.  This year's theme is Kitchen Fire Prevention.  The event runs from 10-2 and admission is free.  Click on the event poster to see photos from past SCFD Open Houses .

The Sarasota County Fire Department demonstrate a vehicle extrication during their annual Fire Prevention Open House. The SCFD provides fire and EMS protections for the citizens of Sarasota County. Their services range from fire operations, EMS operations, hazmat-technical rescue, fire prevention, emergency management and beach patrol. (Photo: October 6, 2012)

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota County Fire Department hosted their annual open house today at Station 5 in Sarasota. The event kicks off Fire Prevention Week and allows the men and women of the Sarasota County Fire Department to showcase their skills in front of the public in a fun-filled environment. The theme of this year’s event was “Have 2 Ways Out”. The event featured demos provided by the Sarasota County Fire Department as the demonstrated high-angle rescue, vehicle extrication, hazmat response and LP fire suppression. There were also displays from Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department, Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport Fire-Rescue, Sarasota County Emergency Management, Florida Division of Forestry, Bayflite, Sarasota Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol and many more organizations. New to the show this year was a side by side demonstration by Wayne Automatic Sprinklers that showed the importance of fire sprinklers in buildings. In the demo, two identical rooms...

A Bayflite medical helicopter lands at the helipad at Sarasota County Fire Department Station 5 during the annual fire prevention open house. (Photo: October 6, 2012)

President Barack Obama ordered flags to fly at half-staff today in honor of the National Firefighters Memorial. 72 names were added to the memorial today in honor of the brave men and women who were killed in the line of duty in 2010. They join the over 3,400 firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice and are forever remember in the memorial. The memorial was dedicated in 1990 and is located at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The memorial ceremony occurs annually to close our National Fire Prevention week in early October. Pictured above are some of Sarasota's bravest performing a training demo during the Sarasota County Fire Prevention Open House that occurs during the same week. (Photo: October 6, 2007)

Sarasota, Florida: The men and women of the Sarasota County Fire Department invited the public to join them in honoring National Fire Prevention Week by hosting their annual Open House at Fire Station 5 in Sarasota. The annual event highlights the diverse services provided by the Sarasota County Fire Department. Over the course of the afternoon, the fire department put on a great show of skills as firefighter performed technical rescues, fire suppression activities, vehicle extrication, fire extinguisher demos and more in front of the crowd that gathered for the event. The apparatus were on display included fire engines, rescues, hazmat truck, Bayflite medical helicopter, Airport fire truck, law enforcement patrol cars and more. There was even a fire department and SWAT team obstacle course for the kids. In addition to the host department, the event included displays from various public safety agencies including Englewood Fire Department, Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department, Sarasot...