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Lewes Fire Department hosts annual open house

Fire Prevention Month event gives kids hands-on experience
Nick, left, and Holden Hill sit in the Lewes Fire Department’s Ranger utility vehicle during the open house at Station 2 Oct. 16. The event is an opportunity for children and parents to get to know their local firefighters and gets hands-on with their gear. BILL SHULL PHOTOS
Bill Shull
October 25, 2025

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. But in this case, there was a smoke house, but the fire wasn’t real.

It was one of things visitors got to experience Oct. 16 at the Lewes Fire Department’s annual open house at Station 2 on Janice Road.

The department holds the event every October, which is Fire Prevention Month.

Kids crawled through the simulated smoke to look for a teddy bear, just like a firefighter would in they were searching for a person inside a burning house.

The open house gives kids an opportunity to experience what firefighters do. They can sit in a real fire truck, try on real firefighter gear and extinguish a pretend fire.

Beebe Healthcare was there to teach CPR, and Delaware Electric Co-op gave a demonstration of the work its crew members do on power poles. Firefighters demonstrated a drone and hydraulic rescue tools.
 
Lewes police officer Phillip Poorman showed kids the inside of a police SUV and some of the equipment he uses on the job.
 
The department also showed off its new/old ladder truck. Lewes FD recently bought the used truck to replace another one that had to be taken out of service. Delivery of a brand-new ladder truck is expected next spring.
 
Jacob Mullins crawls out of the smoke tent with a teddy bear. The tent simulates what firefighters see when they enter a burning building and search for people who might be inside.
Lewes firefighter Glenn Marshall, left, demonstrates the department’s drone for Charlie and Ethan Monk, and their dad Kyle.
Evelina Sadkowski, left, and Adaline Dusza get to use a fire hose to put out a simulated burning house. Both girls are students at H.O. Brittingham Elementary School in Milton.
Sparky the fire dog with Wyatt Wilkinson, left, and Amelia Kennedy.
Corey Kennedy of Beebe Healthcare teaches 6-year-old Tristyn Jacoby how to do CPR.
Saylor and Sawyer McKinney of Milton meet firefighters, including Christian Hill, right, who is wearing full gear.
State Farm agent Tommy Taylor, left, and fire department volunteer Sarah Prieto give away some cool swag.
Braden Hutchinson of Milton looks like a firefighter wearing his helmet and sitting the front seat of a fire truck.
Nick Finkbeiner tries out a police shield, while Lewes officer Phillip Poorman looks on.
Lucy Russell, right, tries out the front seat of the Ranger ATV with dad, Preston Russell.
Firefighter Stephen Matthews, right, lets Hank Karsnitz of Milton try on a firefighter’s helmet.
The Lewes Fire Department’s new, “old” ladder truck. They recently bought the truck to replace a ladder truck that had to be taken out of service. The department is scheduled to get brand new ladder truck in the spring.

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Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.

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