To commemorate Fire Prevention Week, about 300 people attended open house activities at the Franklin Township Fire Company Thursday at the fire station.

There were tours of the facility and equipment, plus an auto rescue demonstration using the "Jaws of Life." Firefighters also demonstrated their skills by extinguishing a car fire.Also, John Kloss, EMS operations, Eastern PA EMS Council, opened the EMS support vehicle that is used in emergencies and preplanned events.With five computer work stations, the mobile emergency van assists with emergency communications and serve as a triage area for EMS. The vehicle is used at fairs, NASCAR events and other pre planned events."We recently assisted with the evacuation of Atlantic City during the hurricane," said Kloss. "While normally the van is available for local communities in the Lehigh Valley, we also traveled to New Orleans and assisted with logistics and communication. We have redundant communication, we have a land line, cellular service and if all else fails, we have a satellite connection."Thomas Chew, fire prevention specialist, said firefighters receive extensive training in fighting fires and they also hope to upgrade equipment next year."We are looking to purchase a new tanker for $270,000 and we hope to order it next year," he said. "We took our old tanker out of service."Chew said that the fire company is still paying off a 2008 KME pumper and have two full years of payments."We are hoping to order our new tanker next year," he said. "It will take approximately eight months to get it after it is ordered."