The 56th annual Columbia County Fair is in town and the Columbia County Fire Department has a fun and educational skit prepared for the citizens ... See more to see and participate in. They have set up an area right at the entrance to the fair using the county's educational trailer, fire extinguisher training unit, a fire engine and some low risers. It all starts with "Higbee" our usually silent, big lug, bear of a clown (played by Firefighter Cody Bertram) standing on the low risers. He will dance, sing and interact with the incoming fair goers to try and get them to stop in their tracks and wait around for the next show. When show time has arrived, a firefighter, usually Lt. Wehinger (alias Nozzle) will be the announcer. He will go through a small talk on what the people will see and learn. He then asks for an adult volunteer. Invariably a dozen or more small hands will go up. He explains how what they are going to show should never be done by a child and then finally picks an adult volunteer. He will ask them to come up. As they come forward he hits a button that ignites the flames on the extinguisher training unit. He calls to them "hurry, come up and extinguish the flames, hurry, hurry!" As they reach for the extinguisher sitting in front of the unit, he hits the kill switch and says "wait a minute now, have you ever used one of those before?" Usually the answer is no. He then goes through the different types of fire and the different types of fire extinguishers. As he nears the end of his talk, he hits the button that ignites the flames again. The person is then allowed to extinguish the fire. They have several other items they go through that both educate and enthrall the audience. The last is a skit where they pull two pint-sized volunteers from the audience. They dress them in small bunker coats and plastic childs fire helmets. They go through a hose pulling drill and after both kids know what is expected, they have a competition to see which child is fastest at pulling the hose. The winner gets to douse the audience with a fire extinguisher that has been pre-set to blow confetti on the crowd. Great fun is had by all and those that want to hang around after the show get to take pictures with the firefighters, clowns and equipment. They can also go through the educational trailer which is also a smoke house. The kids get to practice stop, drop and roll and the adults get to experience what the firefighters go through when they get to a smoke filled residence that they are unfamiliar with. They have to maneuver their way from the front door to the back, staying low to the ground and feeling their way. The educational team has done a super job in putting all this together and we are very proud of their professionalism and community spirit to put on these events.