Riverhead FD to hold open house Sept. 27

Once a year, Riverhead Fire Department at 504 Roanoke Avenue, opens the bay doors to teach lessons in fire safety and demonstrate how the department handles emergencies. This year’s open house, held Saturday, Sept. 27, from 1 to 4 p.m. with a rain date on Sept. 28, will feature tours of the fire house and equipment, free food and activities for children. Beyond connecting with the community, its goal is to show what the department does and attract the next generation of firefighters.

“It gives them time to think about if they want to come out and help the community. You know, a lot of people that come out and see the stuff that we do,” said Chief Piotr Kurzyna. “But mostly, this is for their kids to come out, have a snack and see fire extinguishers, kind of help with the fire prevention. It’s something to do with the family for the day, get the family involved with the community.” 

One hands-on activity is a simulated oven fire where attendees will be able to practice using a fire extinguisher. Attendees can also run a 2-minute drill, where they have to put on all of the fire gear before time runs out. There will also be demonstrations of extraction tools and extinguishing a vehicle fire, something people most likely have not seen in their day-to-day lives.

“There’s going to be a car that we’re going to cut off into pieces. We’re going to tell people how we do it, why we have their hose on the side, why we cut cars,” said Chief Kurzyna. “You’re going to learn how we use the tools by seeing us operating them.” 

Multiple local agencies will be on hand at the open house, including Riverhead police department, Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services, Riverhead Town fire marshal and Suffolk County Police, who will be demonstrating some of their latest high-tech equipment.

“We also have Suffolk County [police] coming out. They have a new tool [where] you have a fire extinguisher, and you can extinguish it based on the screen, using the modern technology,” said Chief Kurzyna.

Chief Kurzyna hopes that seeing the fire department up close will help motivate people to volunteer. Many attendees are children and young adults who are experiencing this hands-on for the first time. The department hopes to restart their juniors’ program, and the open house is one way to generate interest.

“We’ll show our equipment, the firehouse, and hopefully we can get some applications,” he said.