Children experience big rigs up close at Southfield Touch-a-Truck event

Southfield — Emergency sirens and horns were heard in Southfield on Sunday afternoon, but there was no emergency. Just kids and their parents experiencing what it's like on and inside of the city's emergency response and utility vehicles.

The Southfield Parks & Recreation Department hosted a Touch-a-Truck event Sunday afternoon at the Southfield Municipal Campus North Parking Lot, where fire trucks, tractors, police cruisers and snowplows were parked.

"It's so awesome," Jason Chandler, 6, said as he sat on a green tractor. "My favorite truck is police, fire truck, ambulance ... all the construction."

Zh'Aria Patmon of Redford, 15, came to the lot with her grandmother and siblings.

"It's nice seeing trucks I haven't seen before," Zh'Aria said. Her favorite was a white bucket truck that is used to repair power lines. "It can hold up to 700 pounds."

Children got to honk the horns of fire trucks and police cars, sound alarms, and talk with police officers, firefighters and members of the city's public works department.

"We wanted to have an event where we could bring all of our different departments together and provide an opportunity for the kids," said Kiam Jones, event organizer with the Southfield Parks and Recreation Department.

"We know a lot of kids love to see big trucks and not too often they have an opportunity to actually get inside trucks and see how they operate upfront and talk to the people that'll actually operate these vehicles."

Work vehicles from Allied Construction, Old Dominion Freight Line, Quality Towing Service and The Michigan Property Network were present as well as food trucks and a gaming truck.

Families saw the police department use a dog in the K9 Division to show an aggression bite and obey commands.

The fire department had a ladder truck, EMS/ambulance, and smokehouse on display as well their tech rescue and hazmat operations. The Department of Public Works brought out a road grader, bucket truck and street sweeper.

Elizabeth Palmer of Southfield and her 6-year-old granddaughter, Levi, saw a drone demonstration by the police department. Levi also ran up and down the ramp of a tow truck and sat inside other utility trucks.

Jones, the organizer, said this is the event's second year and it will be expanded next year with more vehicles.

mjohnson@detroitnews.com

@_myeshajohnson