The crowds grew as the sun eventually peeked out for the Norwalk Fire Department open house. According to Fire Marshall Glen Iannacone, the attendance was bigger than last year. “401,” Iannacone grinned broadly, when asked what his crowd estimate was around 11 am. “Wait, 402,” he continued.

Overall the event was well attended with plenty of activities and demonstrations on hand.

It’s nice to see a little good natured interdepartment open house rivalry in the henceforth named “battle of the open houses.” It took roughly about 35 minutes to get through 200 hot dogs, at noon, with a steady stream of hungry residents still on hand.

Mayor Moccia, Council President Fred Bondi, Council member Phylis Bolden, State Rep Chris Perone, Congressman Chris Shays and Congressional candidate Jim Himes were on hand at various points throughout the event to greet firefighters and residents who were busy exploring the exhibits. Fire Commissioner Mike Coffey made the rounds with two of his sons in tow, although he somehow managed to snag an interview with a writer from The New Republic covering the 4th CD race. Nice to see some national interest in our Connecticut races this year.

And there were lots of families with kids. Fire Chief Dennis McCarthy got mobbed quickly when raffle tickets were handed out to kids and families vying to win bicycles. According to Iannacone, Walmart and Toys R Us donated bikes for the give away as well as the Fire Fighter union. Stew Leonard’s donated the hot dogs and chocolate chip cookies.

Overall, the open house was a great success. Congrats to the Fire Department for opening their headquarters to all of Norwalk.

The bike raffle drew a big crowd of happy kids

Firefighters prepare for the car extraction demonstration

The firehouse was spotless and open for tours

Fire Marshall Glenn Iannacone starts  the bike raffle

A crowd gathers for the car extraction demonstration

The Red Cross, the Norwalk Fire Emergency Preparedness and Servco were on hand

Action time as firefighters break into the car

The active sprinkler system kicks on as a demonstration fire rapidly engulfs curtains