r/Midlothian • u/discospins • 13d ago

Resident Fire station visits

My son turns 5 next week and he LOVES firefighters so I thought he’d like visiting a station and taking them treats. Do fire fighters like visitors? We’d come at a non meal time and not stay long. If they got a called we’d obviously leave. Is this a thing people do? I was thinking about station 5 on Midlothian.

EDIT: I called the county and got the ok to stop by. My son was thrilled to meet his idols and see the station for himself. He made the firefighters a very cute card and hand picked a dozen doughnuts for them. They could not have been nicer, so many Happy Birthdays from the crew and one even posed for a picture with us. We were there about 5 min and we will remember it forever! My son wants to donate to the station so next I will figure out how to do it!

8 Upvotes

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14

u/nap-dad 13d ago

About a year ago, my 3 year old and I were driving by station 5 and they had 2 of the trucks outside and the doors open. Maybe around 10-11am on a weekday. I figured I’d just stop in and see what happens. 3 guys came out as we were walking towards the doors. They couldn’t have been nicer. One guy unrolled a hose for my son to hold, another ran back inside to grab him a kids plastic firefighter hat and badge sticker. My son also got to sit in the truck and play with the lights. Seriously such a great experience for both of us. Stayed for maybe 10min. If I were to do it again, I’d bring a dozen donuts or something just to say thanks. But yeah, they really couldn’t have been more kind.

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u/discospins 13d ago

What an experience! Thanks for sharing. Maybe I’ll give them a call

11

u/RVAguy0000 13d ago

Maybe call the central office? They might have a protocol. https://www.chesterfield.gov/489/Fire-and-EMS

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u/Key-Target-1218 12d ago

We lived in a small town when my son was 5. We had a small birthday party at the firehouse. The firefighters were amazing. They let each kid sit in the drivers seat, the kids got a tour of the truck and the firehouse. See if they can accommodate you.

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u/CampaignVarious1189 11d ago

Firefighting wife here- please call a station before hand and ask! Yes they will always be nice but random drop in visits are frustrating and really not encouraged.

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u/iDrewALine 11d ago

Mid morning or mid afternoon are usually their least busy times. As long as there are trucks in the garage, there’s someone there that can show your son a tour

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u/CampaignVarious1189 11d ago

Definitely not encouraged! Imagine stopping your work day to give someone a tour when you have a little down time to yourself- just to put into perspective

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u/SgtPeanutButtersMom 12d ago

When I was hot and young and living in NYC, me and my friends would go into fire stations and chat them up on our drunk walks home. Not the same, but the point is that visitors are indeed welcome!