Blog: City Blog

Meet Your Neighborhood Firefighters! Hundreds Attend Easter Egg Hunt / Open House at Station 12

Just for a minute there, it looked like the Knoxville Fire Department Lonas Station No. 12 open house and Easter egg hunt might run out of the hundreds of candy-filled pastel eggs, carefully hidden across the station's lawn.

Whew! False alarm (bad pun intended). Turned out, the Easter Bunny and his firefighter assistants had plenty of candy, prizes, snacks, games and eggs, even for a record attendance at a KFD open house.

More than 200 neighbors came to the station at 4620 Old Kingston Pike on Good Friday evening, eager to meet the firefighters who protect their homes and families. It was a good excuse to socialize with friends while children climbed on a fire engine, donned some gear and hunted Easter eggs.

More than 200 people attended a March 29 open house at Fire Station No. 12.

More than 200 people attended a March 29 open house at Fire Station No. 12.

Hundreds of Easter eggs were hunted at the open house at Fire Station No. 12.

"These open houses are about community engagement," KFD Assistant Chief Mark Wilbanks says. "Families can meet the firefighters in their community and learn about what we do - it's more than firefighting."

Increasing awareness about home safety education is a part of the open houses. Did you know that KFD distributes free smoke detectors and helps families develop emergency escape plans?

"People also may not understand why firefighters show up at the scenes of medical emergencies," Wilbanks says. "But they talk with a firefighter, and they realize: Our first responders are well-trained, get to scenes quickly, and save lives every day."

There are four more open houses this year, plus a evening on Market Square on Oct. 11. The schedule:

- April 19 - Inskip / Norwood Station No. 14, 5400 Central Ave. Pike

- May 17 - Downtown Station No. 1, 600 Summit Hill Drive

- June 5 - Baxter Avenue Station No. 3, 204 E. Baxter Ave.

- July 12 - Northwest Station No. 17, 4804 Western Ave.

Hundreds of people met their neighborhood firefighters at the March 29 open house at Fire Station No. 12.

Hundreds of people met their neighborhood firefighters at the March 29 open house at Fire Station No. 12.

Save the dates! More open houses coming in 2024.

Posted by evreeland On 10 April, 2024 at 3:10 PM