North Whidbey Fire and Rescue has scheduled a series of open houses at fire stations around the district beginning Monday, Sept. 25, at Station 25 on Heller Road.

All of the open houses will begin at 6 p.m.

Nancy Theune, North Whidbey Fire and Rescue office manager, said the open houses will give local residents the opportunity to meet their volunteer firefighters while gaining knowledge of where the stations are located and what jobs the volunteers do.

“At the Heller Road open house, there will be free hot dogs and popcorn,” Theune said. “Also, there will be multi-agency information booths from the Island County Sheriff’s Office, Puget Sound Energy and the American Red Cross.”

A bonus at the Sept. 25 open house is people will have the opportunity to have their blood pressure checked.

Theune said the district will have the safety house set up. Kids can crawl around inside while being given instructions on what to do if they are ever trapped in a smoke-filled environment.

Also, firefighters will have a couple of cars set up that people can sit in while rescue workers use extraction equipment such as the “Jaws of Life” to free them.

“The open house is a tradition we do every year and we usually get a good crowd of people to attend,” Theune said. “Of course we will have the fire trucks on hand for the kids to climb on with the lights and sirens going. It’s a fun time.”

The next open houses will be Sept. 15 at Station 21, Troxell Road, and Station 27, Monroe Landing.

On Sept. 22, open houses will be held at the stations at Taylor Road and Zylstra Road, Stations 22 and 26, and on Sept. 29, Station 23 at Silver Lake and Station 28 at San De Fuca will host their open houses.

The final open house will be Oct. 6 at Station 24 at Polnell Shores.

“These open houses will be smaller than the one at the Heller Road station and they won’t have the multi-agency booths, but people can still get free hot dogs and popcorn, get their blood pressure checked and meet the volunteers who man the stations,” Theune said.