‘We are Vegas strong’: Kids, parents meet firefighters of Station 30

Days after the tragic shooting on the UNLV campus, dozens of parents and their kids attended a fun community event Saturday at a Clark County Fire Department station in southwest Las Vegas to enjoy free cookies and hot cocoa, play games, meet firefighters and learn about what they do.

“We love these events because we really want to show that we are Vegas strong, especially at this time,” said fire Capt. Joey Virtuoso, of Station 30, a 24-hour facility with three emergency vehicles and eight personnel at 7980 W. Robindale Road.

“We always train for the worst of the worst, but we want to showcase the best of the best of us,” said Virtuoso, 37, a native Las Vegan who now lives in Henderson. “And that’s why we’re out today. Providing a cookie and hot cocoa and just kind of bringing a smile to everyone’s face.”

The event, sponsored by the fire department and County Commissioner Michael Naft, was announced on Monday, two days before 67-year-old Anthony Polito, police said, shot and killed UNLV professors Naoko Takemaru, Patricia Navarro Velez and Cha-Jan Chang. Polito was shot dead by university police officers, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

But this was a day to showcase the positives within a community. Mothers, fathers and kids lined up in front of a small trailer called “The Cookie Bar” to pick up a large cookie and a cup of cocoa, with or without marshmallows, for a bit of warmth in the early afternoon cool air.

Inside the firehouse garage, representatives of community organizations such as the Nevada Donor Network, Truancy Prevention Outreach Program and Clark County Foster Care provided information, conversation and treats for kids.

Children and firefighters played two square within chalk-drawn lines. Nearby, kids took turns crawling into the spacious passenger cab of a fire engine, got to hold a water-spewing fire hose and watched a demonstration of a how a spreader, otherwise known as the jaws of life, opens a car when needed to free people trapped inside after an accident.

Jayden Wallace, 10, after climbing down from the fire truck, said he hopes to be like his uncle, a Las Vegas firefighter.

“I really want to be the one to go in the fire and grab them out and help them,” he said.

Mineveh Carvan, 36, was waiting for hot chocolate and a cookie with her 10-year-old daughter Alise.

“I really appreciate them putting on a community event and the kids being able to come out and see everything,” she said. “It just really makes a long impact.”

Contact Jeff Burbank at jburbank@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0382. Follow him @JeffBurbank2 on X.