By Whitney Donohue

Moapa Valley Progress

Youngsters participate in a variety of games and activities at the Moapa Fire District Open House event held Friday at Logandale Fire Station 73. Photo by Whitney Donohue.

The Moapa Fire District held its annual open house at Logandale Station 73 on Friday evening. The event was held in conjunction with Nevada Wildfire Awareness Week. Over 200 people attended the event, which was held the same evening as the Bowler Elementary May Day festival held at the nearby fairgrounds.

“We were hoping that holding the event the same night would give people headed this way for May Day Dances an extra incentive to stop by and check out our activities,” said Karen Alsum of Alsum Insurance.

In addition to Farmer’s Insurance, there were also booths from Las Vegas Motor Speedway, U.S. Park Rangers, Medic West, BLM, Mercy Air, NV State Firefighters Association, UNR Extension Office, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).

Attendees checked in and received a punch card that they took to each booth. Each station either provided information, or had people complete an activity, or both. Some of the stations included a tour of Mercy Air’s helicopter, a firefighter extraction team, fire truck tours, fire hose races, and much more.

The Moapa Valley Rotary Club was on hand serving hot dogs and chips for attendees, and the Inside Scoop provided ice cream for willing participants.

Medic West was performing health checks such as blood pressure screenings, and CERT was handing out information on Emergency Preparedness.

Once participants filled out their punch cards, they were entered into a raffle sponsored by Alsum Insurance. A wide variety of prizes were available including a 32” flat screen TV, MP3 players, tickets to events at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and more.

Members of Station 73 were mingling with community members in the station making sure they are well prepared for the upcoming fire season.

In addition to information about wildfires, the station wanted to ensure that the community was well aware of other services the stations provide to the community.