Yesterday was the Fire Department open house and an island event not to be missed.  Besides the fire fighters, the Disaster Preparedness Committee were out in force.

There were free hotdogs, crisps, pop, juice and cake.  For the kids there were free tee shirts, fire hats, colouring books and those throwing discs with a hole in the middle that are kind of like frisbees (what are they called?)  There were free bicycle helmets on display with the motto: “Need a helmet, grab a fireman.” 

Now I have been to a lot of village fetes in my day (you Yanks have seen these on Morse or Midsommer Murders) and I have paid good money to guess the colour of the towel and the name of the teddy bear and the weight of the pig, but I have never, ever been given anything free, so I took what I thought I could get away with.  I really wanted a tee shirt, and judging by the size of some of the kids, there were plenty that would fit me, but I didn’t dare ask. 

And I can tell you, this island is prepared for disasters, including volcanos, featured on the publicity for this event although we are a really, really long way from the nearest dodgy mountain.  There was a whole trailer full of stuff – blankets, cots (Brits nb: not baby cots, camp beds), portable kitchen, pots, pans, propane, first aid kit, cleansing stuff and a whole lot more, not to mention the defibrillator and the oxygen tanks on the fire engines.

There was also a lot of really scary literature, and I started to feel guilty that I didn’t have a Family Plan in Case of Emergency and had never assembled a kit placed by the door containing food and water (a gallon per person per day for three days), radio, torch, battery, hygiene stuff (like toilet paper but no guidance as to how many rolls per person per day), sturdy shoes, coats, jackets, hats, mittens, blankets, whistle, kitchen accessories, pots and pans, tools, maps, hearing aid batteries, nappies, dummies and a white flag. 

Nor have I conducted twice yearly family drills, but if I had I would know for sure by now that I can’t carry that kit.  Meanwhile, I probably would have been sued several times when visitors fell over the kit on the way into my house.

Never mind.  I got a great picture of me and Smokey.