Why Are There Fewer Open Houses During Fire Prevention Month
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Go back five,10, 20 years and every October, the local fire department would open their doors to the community for fire prevention week. Different fire companies would visit each other’s events and there were demonstrations on ladder work or cutting up wrecked cars. Sometimes, there would be competitions between companies.
In 2026, those events are getting fewer and fewer. Lower Moreland still has one, Croydon has one and many more companies still have them, but not as much as before. In previous years, Bucks County companies would converge on the Edgley Fire Company, in Bristol .There were literally dozens of trucks and public safety exhibits. In Bensalem, that practice stopped in 2025.
“We still send our township companies to the schools for education, but we’re not having open houses this year”, Bill McVey , Director of Public Safety said last year.
The reason and it is hard to admit, but is low attendance. The only people showing up to some are firefighters and their families. Open Houses are designed for the community and some members of the community are not showing up. Work, Other obligations or lack of interest are some of the reasons.
In Philadelphia, one of the biggest draws in the Hero Thrill Show is a ride on a firetruck. Some companies do that, all it takes is a rider to the insurance. People get loaded onto the truck, the truck drives around a bit with lights and sirens, goes back, discharges it passengers and gets new ones. For decades, Newportvile Fire Company did that and had a well attended open house. They stopped doing rides a few years ago . That fire company was closed due to what many voters call mismanagement by Bristol Township Council for taking such drastic action..
Any firehouse is a public building and as long as there is no emergency, anyone can ask to go in for a tour. The difference is there will be no extravagant welcome as was done for an open house. Those events take a lot of planning. There has to be coordination between agencies and other fire companies. Food needs to be purchased and rain dates arranged. Where will be people park?How about disabled parking? Volunteer companies do not get paid for organizing this .
One thing is to have something for kids to do. Having a little kid climb into the drivers seat of a truck and blow the air horn or work a siren is a moment parents will post on social media. Having people do things, teaching them how to breach a door or work a fire hose is a lot more exciting than watching professionals do it.
Photographs of people in turnout gear or fire police gear is a keepsake that will be seen for decades. Some townships have tried to hold a large event with all of the fire companies attending. Each company is handing out the same information and the same plastic helmet just with a different station number on it. Kids either get bored with that or they run to each station and get a collection.
The bottom line is for these events to be successful, there must be attendance from the public and there must be things for the public to do to keep them occupied and want to return.