Eric Cho sits in the captain's seat on a fire engine at the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Fire Department's annual Open House Oct. 10 on the Fort Myer Portion of JBM-HH. Cho said he spent the week looking forward to the weekend, which he attended wi...

Ashton King, 12, tries on bunker gear at the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Fire Department's annual Open House Oct. 10 on the Fort Myer Portion of JBM-HH. King's father, Anthony King, a JBM-HH firefighter, wanted his son to feel the weight of the 55...

Liam Lamb knows where to go to find some of the heroes who work at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.

"Liam especially loves firefighters," his mom, Sharon, said Oct. 9 during a Fire Department Open House. "Every time we go by the fire station he says, 'can we see the fire truck?'"

Liam and dozens of other kids brought their parents to the free event that had a serious purpose.

"It is fun, so the kids can play around and have fun doing it," said JBM-HH Fire Inspector James Dansereau. "But, the whole idea, especially with the extinguisher trainer is to educate the parents who are there watching the kids."

Dansereau was at Liam's side as the 2-year-old, wearing a plastic fireman's hat, and his mom learned how to use a fire extinguisher. He explained that there is an easy acronym that everyone should know in order to operate a fire extinguisher - PASS.

P - Pull the pin.

A - Aim at the base of the fire, not at the flames themselves.

S - Squeeze the trigger

S - Sweep back and forth until the fire goes out.

The bays to the fire station on the Fort Myer portion of the joint base were open throughout the event, and firefighters answered questions about their work and fire safety throughout the day. Army Maj. Kevin Stone, who works at Fort Meade, Md., and his son, Thomas were among the crowd that attended.

"He just turned 3, so he's all about it," Stone said as he watched Thomas climb around inside the cab of a fire truck.

Attendees also enjoyed hot dogs for lunch and were able to take home plastic cups, water bottles and coloring books with lessons about fire safety.