September 8, 2002
It turned out to be an incredible day on Sunday, September 8th. The weather was hot but didn't keep the residents of Wappingers from coming out and enjoying the annual parade and carnival. With 23 members marching and several more either riding or driving all of the district vehicles, New Hackensack Fire Department came away with Best Regulation, Best Tanker/Pumper, and Best Rescue trophies. Afterwards, members of the Fire Prevention Bureau worked the Dutchess County Department of Emergency Response Fire Safety House. As quoted from the Poughkeepsie Journal: James Weldon III and his buddy, Tommy McMahon, 8, both from the town, really enjoyed the fire safety house. They went through it five times. ''It's really cool. You get to learn all about what happens in a fire,'' Weldon said. ''It's mad fun.'' The two boys were far from the only ones who enjoyed what the house had to teach, such as crawling on your hands knees to reduce the effects of smoke and feeling for signs of heat with your hand. The house was crawling with kids all day. ''We try to educate all the kids in the area,'' said Tony Marquez of the fire department. Unfortunately, we did not get any pictures throughout the day.
