BOARDMAN — When it comes to his relationship with firetrucks, 5-year-old Teddy Viglio of Boardman enjoys using his sight and hearing, though he also was able to add another of the five senses to the mix.

“He’s always wanting to touch and see them. He’s always loved them since he was a baby,” Hannah Viglio, Teddy’s mother, said.

The boy’s sense of touch extended to an opportunity to not only feel, but to climb into a full-bodied firetruck. That’s because he and his mother were among the several hundred people who attended a Boardman Fire Department open house Saturday at the 7440 Market St. station.

The three-hour, family-oriented event also was in conjunction with Fire Prevention Week, which got underway Sunday.

Joining Teddy, who his mother said wants to be a police officer, were 4-year-old twin sisters, Camilla Derrico and Alayah Derrico of Boardman, who came with their mother, Holly Fulvi.

Also excited about getting his hands wet while becoming better acquainted with the business end of a firehose was Jace Turocy, 3, of Canfield, who nodded yes when asked if he hoped one day to fight fires.

“He came for play day with his other preschool class. The boys were excited about meeting the firefighters,” Jace’s mother, Janine Turocy, said.

Jace was among the dozens of children who lined up for the opportunity to aim the hose at a series of wooden targets shaped like small houses on which were windows with painted renderings of flames. The children were challenged to knock open the window with the force of the water, as four-year Boardman firefighter Brandon Finamore provided assistance.

Also at the gathering, fire Chief Mark Pitzer conducted a series of demonstrations that included an auto extrication with a wrecked car to show how to save someone unable to get out of a vehicle after a serious accident, as well as one in which a specialized extrication tool was used to pry open parts of a vehicle to rescue those trapped inside.

Drawing perhaps the most attention was a simulation in which a trailer with a makeshift living room and bedroom was set ablaze, which allowed the children and their families to witness the typical behavior of smoke — and how to escape in the event of a house fire.

During the simulation, Pitzer provided a series of safety tips, noting that the vast majority of fire-related fatalities are the result of being overcome by smoke inhalation, not from the flames. In a fire’s early stages, smoke often rises, so it’s imperative to stay low and crawl to safety, he advised.

“Open a window and yell and scream as loud as you can,” Pitzer said, referring to those who are on the second floor of a home on fire.

The Boardman Fire Department’s average response time to a fire scene is 4.5 minutes, he said, adding that the 39-member department averages 5,500 calls annually.

As part of Fire Prevention Week, the chief intends to offer safety tips this week to first- and second-grade students in the district. Key among them will be the importance of dropping and rolling to avoid smoke, refraining from playing with matches, having a predetermined evacuation plan and meeting place, ensuring at least two escape routes are available, knowing how to cook safely and being sure their homes have functioning smoke detectors.

Pitzer added that in the absence of such devices, children should remind their parents to install them.

“This (also) is an opportunity for people to interact directly with our first responders,” township Trustee Steve Yacovone said, adding that he brought his two young children, 4 and 18 months.

Echoing that sentiment was Trustee Thomas P. Costello, who added that the open house was courtesy of a grant from Walmart, and came at no cost to taxpayers. In addition, many off-duty firefighters volunteered to “make sure this is a fun event for everybody,” Costello said.

Also on hand were representatives from the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office’s Safe Communities program, including Susan Viars, who had numerous pamphlets on the dangers of distracted driving.

Late last month, Sheriff Jerry Greene announced that his office was awarded more than $135,000 in grants from the Ohio Department of Public Safety, including $55,000 in Safe Communities money.

“Distractions are the No. 1 cause for crashes,” Viars said, adding that the program is making a significant push to deter the problem.

Texting or manipulating a screen while behind the wheel is particularly dangerous because the human brain “can’t do two high-level activities at once,” she said. Consequently, such motorists likely would be unable to react quickly enough to avoid a crash or possibly striking a pedestrian, Viars said, adding that October is National Pedestrian Safety Awareness Month.

Also, driving means making a flurry of fast, continual decisions that include judging spatial relationships, accelerating and decelerating, changing lanes, anticipating other drivers and braking, all of which require the use of several parts of the brain, she added.

Ways to avoid distracted driving are turning off cellphones and placing them out of sight, creating playlists to avoid the need to change music on a trip, programming routes into a global-positioning system device before setting out, securing children and restraining pets, and properly securing loose objects, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which has partnered with the Safe Communities effort.

In Ohio, it’s illegal to interact with phone screens and other electronic devices while driving. Exceptions are reporting an emergency, using a device while stopped at a red light or parked on the road during a closure or emergency or holding a phone to one’s ear during a conversation.

Violators can face $150 fines and two points on their driver’s licenses for first offenses. Fines can be doubled if a violation occurs in a work zone.

Also at Saturday’s open house was a pop-up library from the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, a Mercy Health mobile dental van and a raffle to win fire safety equipment.