Sebastian Devore, 4, made his way through the obstacle course tunnel during the Public Safety Community Day, which was held Wednesday evening at the Uebelhor Toyota Field in Jasper.
Local police departments, fire departments, emergency medical services, disaster response services, the Indiana National Guard, Indiana DNR and more filled the field next to Uebelhor Toyota in Jasper Wednesday evening for the third annual Public Safety Community Day.
The annual event, organized by a team of volunteers, allows the public to meet with the local public safety personnel, interact with their equipment, watch demonstrations, grab some free food, and participate in a giant water balloon battle.
The goal is to humanize the men and women who may show up at an emergency or be involved in the worst day of someone’s life to create connections that lead to a safer community.
As one mother explained, when her children were involved in a crash earlier this year, they were somewhat familiar with the first responders and their equipment since they had attended the previous year’s community day. That allowed them to remain calm as the firefighters and police officers helped them.
Here are some photos of this year’s annual event.
Gavin Greener, 6, of Jasper, struggled through the tires in the obstacle course Wednesday evening. Jasper Officer Logan Jones timed each participant as they completed the course.
Evan Schmidt, 6, of Jasper, finishes the obstacle course while Officer Jones times his performance on his phone. In addition to running through tires, under and over obstacles, and through a tunnel, each participant ends the obstacle course by dragging a fire hose about 40 feet.
Jasper Volunteer Firefighters Evan Schum, Cody Kreilein, and Greg Vonderheide work to remove Firefighter Seth Eckstein from a vehicle during a demonstration Wednesday evening. The firefighters had an actual clock to work against as the St. Vincent Statflight helicopter was about to arrive, and they had to clear the field for the landing.
After puncturing the windshield, firefighters cut the glass with a sawzall.
Diego Hernandez, 4, and his brother Mateo Hernandez, 9, react as the Statflight helicopter lands in the field. According to his dad, Santiago, Diego loves helicopters.
Flight Nurse Steven Weber helped Trenton Katter, 4, down from the helicopter after he had explored the cockpit. The crew and pilot took time to answer questions from the crowd as they waited to climb in and explore the helicopter.
Luis Palma helped his 20-month-old son Ezekiel out with the Airsoft target shooting. The Jasper Police Department uses the Airsoft guns for training but set up a target booth for visitors of any age to try out during the event.
The event’s grand finale is the annual water balloon battle between the kids and police officers. In the photo, Jasper Detective Greg Brescher catches several kids grabbing balloons before the signal for the fun battle begins. He did not tell them to put their hands up.
This year’s water balloon battle turned into more of a battle royale as the kids threw balloons at any available target.
And then the fire department arrived…Firefighter Greg Vonderheide sprays the kids down.
…until the police took back over, Deputy Jesus Monarrez chased Jasper Firefighter Greg Vonderheide after procuring the fire hose from him. Monarrez is also a volunteer firefighter.
Jasper Officer and event organizer Clint Stewart, with the remnant of a water balloon stuck to his head, and Jasper Detective Greg Brescher discuss the end of the watery fun while being sprayed by the Jasper Fire Department. Brescher was likely complaining about being hit by Huntingburg Police Chief Brad Kramer’s long-range water balloon missile.
