Hundreds spend a night out

Published 11:19 am Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Tom Schulte, left, and Jim Halsey of the Austin Fire Department, show Tim and Catie Cartaya, 6 and 4, how to use the fire hoses Tuesday during National Night Out. — Matt Peterson/matt.peterson@austindailyherald.com

Another crowd turned out for National Night Out in Austin on Tuesday, the sixth time the city has participated in the 29th annual nationwide event.

From 4 to 8 p.m., locals met the police, firefighters and EMTs who serve their community.

“I think it was very, very close to last year,” Police Chief Brian Krueger said about this year’s attendance. Last year’s event drew roughly 400 visitors.

Email newsletter signup

Besides meeting emergency professionals, residents got to check out the Special Incident Response Team’s vehicle, an ambulance, fire trucks; and youngsters got to learn the tricks of handling the fire hose.

Krueger said other popular attractions were a K-9 apprehension demonstration, which drew 200 or more spectators, and Austin Police Department’s display of its new Ford Interceptor squad cars.

“I thought it went very well,” Krueger said.