As each child crawls through the fire house filled with fog, Neal Snyder is teaching one of the most important lessons of fire survival:
Don't hide. Get outside.
Snyder hosts the firefighter training show at the York Fair. Multiple times a day, Snyder invites children to dress up like a firefighter and put out a mock fire. In the process, kids are learning fire safety, and what to do in case of an emergency.
"It give kids a chance to see what it might be like to be a firefighter," Snyder says. "That's kind of our motto, trying to inspire the next generation of heroes."Snyder's show is a solo act. He travels the country going to fairs every year for the last 12 summers. Snyder himself is not a firefighter, but his brother's career as a firefighter for more than 20 years inspired him to put on a show that would get children interested in the profession.