Hundreds turn out to see Shrewsbury's fire crews put through their paces on open day

Crowds watched in awe as the crews put on displays involving lots of smoke, water and how they deal with casualties.

The first hour of Saturday's celebration at the Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service headquarters, in St Michael's Street, was a dedicated hour for special educational needs and disability (SEND) visitors.

Other members of the general public were welcome from 11am to 3pm.

Andrew Davies, the crew manager of Red Watch, whose turn it was to organise the event, said: "It was a real team effort and included fire control.

"It was absolutely fantastic to be honest and we had more people than we expected.

"We had a quiet hour to start with for SEND people and that was so well received. We had really positive feedback to start the day off with."

He added that the day had "probably exceeded our expectations" and was on a par with the service's 75th anniversary celebrations last year. He name-checked colleagues Katy Lowe and Lee Roberts for their efforts.

Charlie Cartwright did his bit as master of ceremonies telling members of the public about what was happening.

They had a special focus on fire safety and water safety awareness.

It was filled with excitement, education, and entertainment for the whole family and involved fire engine displays, food stalls, including tea room and seating area, a toy stall, live demonstrations and the chance to learn essential fire safety tips and techniques.

A team from the West Midlands Ambulance Service was also on the scene to take their part in demonstrations of how crews respond to road crashes.

There was also a charity raffle to raise money for The Fire Fighters Charity, with added fire control room tours and talks.

Mr Davies said a special stall selling children's toys, which were donated or bought from charity shops, sold out within 90 minutes.

Shrewsbury Fire Station has an on-call fire crew as well as firefighters who work there full-time.

On-call firefighters have regular jobs and respond to alerters in times of emergency.

The Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service offers training to become an on-call firefighter and can offer an online home fire safety check to evaluate fire risks within homes.

We're now well into fire station open day season and the next up are in Ludlow and Wellington on August 31.

Ludlow's open day will run from 10am - 4pm at 11 Weeping Cross Lane with all the fun of the fair including a bouncy castle, hook-a-duck, a raffle and a chance to meet the crew.

All proceeds raised at all of the service open days will go to The Fire Fighters Charity and other local causes.

Wellington's open day, also on August 31 will run from 10am to 2pm and include community fire safety advice, road and water safety guidance, a demonstration of how firefighters deal with crashes and animal rescues as well as station and appliance tours.

Cleobury Mortimer Fire Station will be holding its open day on September 7 from 12 noon to 4pm.

Visitors will be able to have a chat with the crews about anything from fire safety to careers in the fire service.