Food, Fun and Safety Make Murrieta Fire Open House a Hit

The community turned out in droves Saturday for an open house hosted by , so much so that running out of hot dogs was the biggest issue faced.

"We went through 600 hot dogs," said Dean Hale, a Murrieta firefighter/paramedic who organized the event.

Fire Station No. 2 on California Oaks Road opened its large bay doors at 10 a.m, and by 11:10 a.m., Hale said they'd already went through 300 hot dogs. He had to run to the store to buy another 300, and by 1:30 p.m.--with folks still lining up--they were out again.

That's one indication that the event was a success, Hale said, adding that it was the largest turnout in recent years. The department holds the open house annually during

Families with children of all ages were given tours of the fire house, with the opportunity to see the crew's living quarters and a brief description of what a typical day is like for Murrieta's firefighters.

About 80 to 90 percent of the time, crews are called out for medical aid, explained firefighter/paramedic Ryan Roufs, who works out of Fire Station No. 2. The other 10 to 20 percent of calls are related to fires or rescues.

"Cal Oaks is one of the busiest stations, so we don't do a lot of sitting around. If it is an emergency to you, we'll come," Roufs told open house guests.

Children took part in demonstrations of two new department displays, manned by the Fire Explorers. The PASS display, short  for Press, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep, allowed guests to use a fire extinguisher to put out flames. With EDITH, an acronym for Exit Drill in the Home, kids laid on a cot while an explorer sounded a smoke detector. Children were coached to get up from the bed, feel the door for heat, open the door, stop, drop and roll under the smoke and find their parents.

"Doing stop, drop and roll as a drill by itself isn't enough," Hale said. "This gets them tuned into what to do when they actually hear a smoke detector."

Temecula residents John and Melina Zitlau brought their 2-year-old daughter, Kylie, to the event.

"They seem to be really good with the kids," said John, while his daughter clambered onto a fire engine.

A jumper donated by Jamin' Jumps was also a big hit with the younger children, Hale said, and served as a fun reward after they'd taken in all the safety tips they could manage.

Other children waited in line to receive bags filled with fire-prevention themed coloring books, crayons and stickers, which also ran low near closing time.

Attendees had a chance to "fill the boot" for Junior Ortega, a third-grader at Murrieta Elementary who recently underwent biopsy surgery, during which doctors found a malignant mass on his brain. The Murrieta Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary is seeking donations to help the family, as Junior's mother, Bertha was part of the Fire Explorer program.

Murrieta Fire Chief Matt Shobert was on hand to greet the more than 500 open house guests. Many of the firefighters volunteered during their off-time to be there, he said, while the working crew got pulled out three or four times to respond to calls--though nothing of major significance.

"It was a very successful event," Shobert said. "We got to meet lots of our constituents in a low-key environment. It was a good, solid event with a really good turnout--just a great day."