Kinnelon Fire Department Practices on Smoke Rise House

This is 6 Hemlock Lane in Smoke Rise, also known as 'the old Kindig house.' This was also the site of a Kinnelon Fire Department practice last Monday, April 27, 2009. The house was scheduled to be torn down the following day [we just checked out the scene and it has indeed been demolished].

We found out about the practice -- and a Fire Department search and rescue drill [which took place on 4/20/09] -- from George Cox, the Smoke Rise Governor of Communications. My reaction? How fascinating! How do I learn more?

George suggested that I contact the Kinnelon Fire Chief, Gail Bresett.

I did and learned quite a bit.

Chief Bresett explained that the Kinnelon Fire Department routinely reaches out to builders and purchasers who intend to tear a house - or part of a house - down. The purpose? To use the structure in a drill situation to simulate structure fire.

You see, during a fire department intervention, damage occurs. We're talking broken windows, holes in the roof to help vent, even damage to walls. And the best way to be prepared for the worst situation is by practicing in and on a structure where the damage doesn't matter and on one the closely resembles a real life situation. [A big deal is being able to practice 'laddering' a house.]

Opportunities such as this don't happen frequently - and fire school isn't quite the same. According to Chief Bresett, the Fire Department had the opportunity to practice two years ago on a Gravel Hill Road house, and also on a 1920s house on Ricker Road. Sometimes, too, a partial house opportunity [i.e., only a part of a house is scheduled for demolition] might present itself.

Monday night is the normal drill night for the Kinnelon Fire Department. In this kind of a practice, they will proceed in real time and then debrief afterwards. She expected at least 20 firefighters from the department to participate. All active members are encouraged to participate without restriction. The Kinnelon Fire Department totals approximately 45 firefighters, including junior and senior members.

The department was also able to hold the previous week a small group practice rescue with a "rapid intervention team" for rescuing firefighters. At the same time, it prepared scenarios for Monday's session.

Chief Gail Bresett has held the position of Kinnelon Fire Chief since January 2008, for a 2 year term. Most recently, she was first assistant, then second assistant. She has been active in the Kinnelon Fire Department 29 years.

Lisa, Miles, Glenn Sisco, Denise Bresett and Emma.
Lisa and I met up this past Monday night to witness the fire department practice -- from a distance.

As we approached the scene, we encountered Mayor Glenn Sisco in full firefighting gear and standing by to support and coordinate any unexpected needs for the evening's program.

He graciously spoke with us, answering questions and explaining what was taking place. The evening's activities were considered a corporation drill involving all three Kinnelon Fire Companies. I counted a least six trucks, including a tanker truck and a light truck to illuminate the scene as it got darker.

Mayor Sisco also introduced us to his granddaughter, Denise Bresett, a junior firefighter. She was taking photos which will be available on the KVFC website photo gallery [see the photos of the 4/26/09 forest fire].

Unfortunately, we couldn't see all that much. Not only was it getting dark, but as observers we really couldn't get in so close that we might interfere. As you can see from the photo above, the street was filled with fire trucks, and hoses. Lots of activity was taking place up at the house with firefighters in and about. Denise confirmed that windows had been broken.

Later that evening [i.e., 10pm +] I heard firetrucks go by, returning to Company 3. I assume the practice lasted until then.

Interestingly, Lisa had mentioned the 6 Hemlock Lane house to me back in January. She had spoken with the realtor who explained that the house had been abandoned for 6 years; all of the systems within had failed; and that the house was best suited for demolition and reconstruction.

Kind of neat, though, to realize that - despite not having been of much use these past 6 years - the house had one last service to offer the community: a chance for the Kinnelon Fire Department to practice and be better prepared in case of a Kinnelon fire emergency.

By the way, please do check out the Kinnelon Volunteer Fire Department Blog. Also, the Kinnelon Fire Department website encourages you to visit the borough's new Kinnelon Boro Street Index guide and to take the Morris Country Preparedness Survey.

Did you see my previous post on Kinnelon's Semi-Annual Pancake Breakfast? Consider volunteering for our fire department.






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Santa Helicopters in to Kinnelon

Did you see him? You know, Santa Claus?  We did last Saturday December 6th as he magically appeared from the sky in a helicopter to land behind Kinnelon's Borough Hall.

What a thrill! What a rush! What a joy for all of the Kinnelon boys and girls eagerly awaiting his arrival.

We didn't have long to wait.  At 10:00am sharp we heard a faint rhythmic sound that became increasingly more distinct.  It resolved into the eagerly awaited helicopter which made two wide loops over the field as it came in for a landing. By the middle of the first loop, we caught sight of Santa's red suit and his white gloved hand as it waved to us.

The helicopter landed.  It was a nimble two-seater out of which Santa extricated himself.  He thanked the pilot, who took off again quickly, and headed toward the crowd of children and their parents.

You should have heard the shrieks of delight! The children quickly surrounded the jolly old elf who graciously posed for photos and exchanged quips and reminders. "Will," he said to a grown man, "do you still have that football I gave you?"   "I do, Santa," replied the man.  And, then to a grown woman "Kathy, are you being a good girl?"  "Yes, I am Santa!" she said.

My daughter overheard those exchanges.  Her eyes grew bigger. Afterward, she repeated what she had witnessed several times. To us; to her grandparents; to other grownups. She had proof positive that this was truly Santa.

I love this Kinnelon tradition.  And, although Santa has been spotted in several other locations arriving by helicopter per this "Santa helicopter" Google search, Kinnelon NJ seems to be one of his earliest stops in the season.

Which makes his visit here that much more special happening like clockwork on the first Saturday in December.  I wondered, though, how long has Santa taken this mode of transportation when visiting Kinnelon?  

I asked two of the firefighters standing by.  You see, Santa has a special relationship with firefighters. He takes a firetruck from the field to Borough Hall itself where he and Mrs. Claus pose for pictures [I understand he's quick to greet many of the children by name and often remembers what he brought them the previous year].  Santa also comes back the following Sunday to ride a firetruck around the borough of Kinnelon to wave, hand out candy canes and dog treats [for children's best friend]  

The two firefighters differed in their answers:  one said 5 years; the other, ten.  Too inconclusive a response.  I was determined to get to the bottom of this marvelous mystery.

On Monday, I called Borough Hall.  Borough Hall couldn't answer my questions and directed me to Mayor Glenn Sisco's house, as he and his wife are personally involved in scheduling this special visit from Santa.  

I called the Siscos and, luckily, reached Mrs. Barbara Sisco. I asked her about Santa. "At least ten years," she said "but, I'll need to check."

In the meantime, she offered me perspective on Santa in Kinnelon.

Santa has been coming to Kinnelon for over 20 years, at first via firetruck and now helicopter - always the first weekend in December.  In the firetruck days, Santa would arrive in time for a tree lighting ceremony on Friday night during which the Kinnelon High School students sang. Although wonderful, Mrs. Sisco noticed two shortcomings to the festivities: the timing was difficult for small children [i.e., Santa's core audience], and it was really hard to actually see Santa.

Enter the new mode of transportation.  The Siscos identified an enthusiastically willing helicopter pilot - with connections to Santa - and the event shifted to Saturday morning to the delight of children young and old!

For the first two years, Santa landed on the Kinnelon High School field.  Then, while Borough Hall was renovated, he landed at the Pearl R. Miller School field, boarding the firetruck and posing for photos with Mrs. Claus at the Sisco School.  All other years, he has arrived behind Borough Hall as he did last week with the photo session in Borough Hall.

Regardless of the location, when Santa comes to Kinnelon, he demonstrates his special kinship to our community.  He remembers kids' names, their stories and whether they have been good or bad. 

Mrs. Sisco is hoping to reestablish the tree lighting part of the ceremony in the near future.

And now the answer to my original question...

A few days later, Mrs. Sisco called me back.  After consulting with her grandson who checked with his dad, she confirmed that 2008 is Santa's twelfth year arriving by helicopter...

Thank you, Mrs. Sisco for helping me capture the details of the marvelous Kinnelon tradition of Santa arriving by helicopter!

Thank you, Mayor Sisco and Mrs. Sisco for encouraging such a marvelous tradition!

Thank you, Kinnelon Firefighters for making sure that Santa gets to where he needs to be during the Christmas season.

And, thank you, Santa, for sharing the magic of Christmas with all the Kinnelon children!

Merry Christmas!

Note:  Here are Santa photos from the Kinnelon Volunteer Fire Company's 2008 Shutterfly page.  It looks like some of the firefighters may be trying to impersonate Santa...  

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Kinnelon's Semi-Annual Pancake Breakfast

Have you been to the Kinnelon, NJ Semi-Annual Pancake Breakfast?  The most recent one just took place this past October 19th at the Kiel Avenue Firehouse and it was a blast.

We love pancake breakfasts, particularly when they take place at the Kinnelon firehouse.  It's always a fun event that we start looking forward to the minute we see the large signs strewn about town in strategic locations...

Before moving to Kinnelon, we had never been to a pancake breakfast. Perhaps it was because our daughter was too young.  Now, it's rare for us to miss them.  Next one:  late March 2009.

Where else can you be guaranteed so much amazing kid-fascinating entertainment, including an opportunity to climb all over those magnificent fire trucks?

In anticipation of writing this blogpost, I learned the following from the two women responsible for making this event proceed as smoothly as it does, the Fire Auxiliary President, Maribeth Smialek, and Vice President, Nancy Tsinkelis:

+ A Kinnelon pancake breakfast makes use of approximately 220 pounds of pancake batter.

+ Workers start mixing the batter at 6am to be ready for the official breakfast start time of 7am.

+ Over 200 pounds of some of the tastiest sausage I have ever eaten is cooked. [Next time, I need to find out what brand of sausage...]

+ This year, Nancy pre-packaged the utensils in individual packets. Very classy and efficient.  She put together 1700 sets and any not used for this event are ready for the next.

As you can see from the photos, many people get involved helping out with the pancake breakfast, and not just adults.  Kids get into the act, too, as well as entire families.

At the pancake station, for example, a mom, dad and son did the honors.  I didn't get their names, but they were terrific, and the mom made the best Mickey Mouse pancakes you have ever encountered [my daughter consumed hers before I was able to photograph it].

Now, as I've only been to Kinnelon pancake breakfasts, I'm not really qualified to compare them to those of neighboring fire departments.  

I would expect them to be at least as much fun, and for the sake of research [the main Butler firehouse is named the Kinney Hose Company No. 1], I will attend an upcoming Butler NJ pancake breakfast.

However, what I do know is that this pancake breakfast brings together a terrific crowd of kids and grownups from Kinnelon NJ, and when we leave [after stopping by the Bake Sale table], we inevitably can't wait for the next one.

Pictured here with Lisa's son and my daughter are Kinnelon Volunteer Fire Auxiliary Vice President, Nancy Tsinkelis, in red and President, Maribeth Smialek, in stripes.

Thank you and see you at the next Kinnelon Pancake Breakfast!

N.B.:  Per the Kinnelon Volunteer Fire Company website, this past pancake breakfast served 619 meals.  Not bad!

The Kinnelon Fire Department is entirely volunteer run with 51 fire fighters and 3 fire stations.

And, membership in the Kinnelon Volunteer Fire Auxiliary is open to anyone over 14 years of age.

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