FireFest in downtown Chatham, September 23, 2017. (Photo by Cheryl Johnstone)FireFest in downtown Chatham, September 23, 2017. (Photo by Cheryl Johnstone)
Chatham

Last call for Firefest

Firefest takes over downtown Chatham one final time on Saturday.

Hundreds of fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances from all over will be on display on King Street.

"We've got South Carolina, we've got somebody coming from Wilton, Maine, west of Chicago, we've got central Ohio, eastern Pennsylvania," said organizer Brent DeNure. "It's so bittersweet for our last year to have so many first time, and I guess last time participants, but we're going to put on a show for you."

There are lots of activities planned for kids.

"We're going to have the Junior Fire Challenge, which has been a mainstay for the last four years," said DeNure. "In addition to that we are going to have Stan the Magical Fireman, so he's a huge hit. We're going to have firefighters on stilts, we're going to have face painting."

The free event runs from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., when the vehicles will leave downtown in a parade.

"We'll be rolling from Victoria Street and Grand Avenue heading west on Grand starting at about 4 p.m.," said DeNure. "We're hoping for a big crowd, and all indications are with the weather, we should get probably 15,000 people or so."

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