Photos courtesy of Stuart Fire Department.

The Stuart Fire Department kicked off National Fire Prevention Week with an event to bring together area firefighters for some productive fun last Sunday.

While it was a bit chilly for outdoor water fights, Stuart Fire Chief Josh Renslow says they had a successful event with 32 teams that participated. Departments from Menlo, Casey, Dexter, Earlham, Greenfield, Yale, Dawson, and Brandon were all represented, and while there was friendly competition and trophies awarded, Renslow says it also served as a good training exercise, “You do have to shoot the barrel, so it does help you with hose handling skills, or water application skills, you know, making sure we’re putting water on the bright spot of the fire and things like that. So it does help and also it’s just a fun time, you know? You get a bunch of firemen around and they can kind of bond and relax and all that sort of stuff.”

Renslow adds it was nice to hold the event after the Stuart Sesquicentennial event was postponed to next June. The Stuart Fire Department also visited Stuart Elementary Thursday for an outdoor demonstration as part of National Fire Prevention Week. You can hear more from Renlsow during today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County program on air and at raccoonvalleyradio.com.