View Finder: Santee Fire Station Open House

held their on Saturday, allowing the public- mostly fascinated kids- to tour the station, get some , and see some .

Around 1:30 p.m. the fun really started to pick up. The Mercy Air emergency rescue helicopter began circling the station and caused some excitement by picking up a big cloud of dirt and debris that went through the audience- luckily everyone ducked and covered in time.

Once it landed, the pilot explained a bit about what they do- mainly rescuing people from accidents around the county. The kids were then able to take a close look at it and peek in the cockpit.

The next demonstration, ripping apart a car in a simulated traffic accident rescue, topped off the afternoon. It took six firefighters about ten minutes to take the doors, windows and top off of a car, using the "jaws of life" and other specialized equipment. They safely rescued a dummy that was "injured in the crash, and got it loaded into Mercy Air.

The , the Burn Institute, and insurance companies, the City of Santee and other organizations had booths at the open house, handing out safey information and goodies for the kids.

The Poway Fire Department even brought their Kids Fire Safety mobile demonstration house, that kids and their families could tour and learn from.