NORWICH – Hundreds of parents brought their children to the Norwich Fire Department’s open house Thursday night to take part in Fire Prevention Week activities, which included operating a ladder truck, a puppet show, hands-on fire extinguisher training and much more.

“Every day is really fire prevention day, but this is the week we get to go out into schools and bring in the public. Our direct contact with them is a great and fun opportunity for us to get our message across,” said City of Norwich Code Enforcement Office Jason Lawrence.

Droves of anxious children darted around their parents’ legs as families lined up for several of this year’s events. Apart from the traditional fire truck rides and puppet show, which drew a large crowd, many waited patiently for their chance to operate the department’s ladder truck.

Piling into the bucket end of the 100-foot long extension ladder, with a trained firefighter, kids and adults played a game of skill using a dangling traffic cone hung from the bottom of the outreached ladder. The object of the game was to move the extension up and down, to and fro, until the hanging cone was above a marked target area on the ground below. Participants then lowered the ladder bucket and the hanging cone to see it they could hit their mark.