Above: SFD is planning to welcome the public to a fun and educational Open House again this Heritage Day. (images cropped from last year’s flyer and photos to Facebook)
When my kids were little, the Open House at the old Fire Station was one of their favorite Heritage Day highlights. So, I was excited when the Southborough Fire Department relaunched the annual event at the public safety building few years ago.
The event was held in 2024 with plans for a repeat in 2025. That was cancelled after Heritage Day was called off due to a forecast Nor’easter. So far, this year’s forecast for Monday is much more promising.
The SFD will hold their Open House immediately following the Heritage Day parade on Monday, October 12th. (It’s listed as running from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, but there will be a delay at the start since the fire trucks lead the parade that begins at 10:00 am.)
Personnel will be giving tours of the fire station section of the Public Safety Building and offering “live demos”.
The demo that’s the biggest hit with kids is the chance (with help) to use a fire hose to put out a house fire. (Don’t worry, they’re not really setting houses ablaze. They’ll use the SFD’s prop house with “flames” to knock down in the windows. See pics below they posted to Facebook last year.)
They don’t have a timeframe yet, but at some point(s) the the crew will also use the Training Tower for a Fire Safety Demo. (They’ll use “theatrical smoke” to demonstrate conditions you would find early in the stages of fire development and discuss families making plans for safe evacuations.)
But the biggest draw for many young kids may be the classic — all of the big fire trucks, ambulances, and rescue vehicles.
The station is located at 32 Cordaville Road. If the station’s parking lot fills up, you can use the lot next door at Woodward School.
