Richland Volunteer Fire Department thrilled with turnout during annual open house

“I feel that this year’s open house was attended by more residents than last year. We enjoy meeting our residents and feeding them also. Smiles on kids’ faces say we are doing things right in teaching them about what firefighters do,” Chief Dave McWilliams said.

One of the live demonstrations that drew a crowd was a rescue scenario involving a demolished vehicle and a “person” trapped under it. The fire department used its standard 150-pound rescue dummy to simulate how the firefighters would lift a vehicle off a victim.

Richland EMS was on the scene to demonstrate how the local emergency services work in tandem with each other. After the firefighters had succeeded in lifting the vehicle off the victim, EMS members sprang into action and began CPR.

Chris Rudolph, vice president of the Richland Volunteer Fire Department, spoke about the importance of recruitment for the volunteer organization.

“It was great to see the open house so well attended,” he said. “I think any way we can get the word out and demonstrate what we do as a 100% volunteer organization helps spark interest to possible new members. We are always in need of new members.”