The last day of the Alaska State Fair was called First Responders Day, celebrating the men and women who answer the call to save lives across the state.
“The cops and the firefighters and the EMT’s, they all stand in the same light,” Dan Tucker, Director of Emergency Services at 1-800-BOARDUP of Alaska, said.
Several Alaskan firefighters, including some from Palmer, participated in the fair's first Kids Firefighter Challenge at the Corral. The kids ran drills similar to real training exercises used by firefighters. They ran through several kinds of obstacles, crawling through tubes, climbing up and sliding down an inflatable slide and they even got to shoot water from a real firehose.
Six-year-old Nathan Dunn said the event was, “awesome.” His mother Sarah Dunn and other relatives excitedly cheered him on from the bleachers. When Nathan was finished, Sarah said she was very proud of him. She said he’s very active boy and he’s apt to do anything physical.