PHOTOS: Rosemount Fire Department Open House Features Four-Alarm Fun

Rosemount residents got a taste of what's hot during an open house Sunday at Rosemount Fire Department Station #1 on Shannon Parkway.

The open house included kitchen fire safety demonstrations, the fleet of fire engines, a heliocopter, safety house tours and lots of information on how to prevent fires.

Several hundred people attended the annual open house, which ran for three hours Sunday.

Andy Norsten, a lieutenant and fire education coordinator at Rosemount Fire Department, said he hopes visitors walk away with one thing.

"I'd say the biggest thing that we hope to accomplish is if we have all these citizens come in from Rosemount and they take away one thing -- whether it's don't put water on a grease fire, to have an escape plan, to know where a meeting place is, to test their smoke alarm batteries -- if they can take away one thing, then we did our job."

Kitchen fires are the leading cause of fires in Rosemount and the United States, Norsten said.

"The No. 1 thing is to have a working smoke detector and to stand by your pan," Norsten said. "Don't leave your kitchen unattended when you're cooking."

Demonstrations on how to extinguish kitchen fires drew a large and appreciative crowd.

Children and adults both enjoyed examining the fire department vehicles and the North Memorial Air Care helicopter. There was also a demontration on auto extraction, an air bag safety demonstration and a popular 'Sparky the Fire House Dog' jumping house, fire department vehicles to tour and lots of firefighters to meet.