By Connie Mish
MARLBOROUGH, October 8, 2012

The roof of a car, that is.
The City of Marlborough Fire Department held its open house on Sunday, October 7^th at their Central Station, located at 215 Maple Street.  As a fairly new resident of the City, this was my first year in attendance. I decided to bring along an inquisitive Richer School 2^nd grader, Kami Mish, who is very interested in fire safety and also enjoys doing everything with her mother (me).

Upon arrival, the children and parents were encouraged to pick up the many safety tip flyers, a fire hat, and goodie bag filled with stickers, tattoos, and more safety tips.

The firefighters went all out with Jr. firefighter gear, interactive displays and tours of the fire trucks and an ambulance. Lieutenant Zom Petti observed as firefighters Ron Percy and Jay Degiacomo demonstrated how they perform rescues from accidents with the Jaws of Life. They carefully cut each support to the top of a vehicle and pulled the entire top off while firefighter Christie Clement provided a play-by-play to children and parents, explaining each piece of equipment and the extreme importance of safety belts.

When asked who put it all together, they don’t mind sharing a loud “2^nd shift, hoorah!” as they proclaim their pride in involving the community, and add “with a special thanks to Mark Assencoa“ who assisted in organizing the event. Marlborough Fire Department’s 2^nd Shift did an excellent job in engaging both kids and parents, while still responding to calls in the midst of it all.