&uot;The doors are open&uot; … The familiar cry echoes from the backseat as we near the Central Fire Station on Main Street. On the way to school each day, the biggest question of the day is a simple one: &uot;Are the doors open or closed?&uot; The doors, of course, are the doors of that Central Fire Station, behind which sit the impressive fire engines.

And if the doors are open, well, that makes the morning trip No. 1 on the &uot;best thing that happened to me today&uot; list.

On days when the engines are parked outside — and firefighters are either testing the lights or polishing the chrome — the excitement is nearly more than any preschooler should be expected to stand. And we have to drive by the station at least twice, just to get a good look at everything.

The daily routine, along with the all-too-familiar routes through the city that take us by as many fire stations as possible while running errands on the weekend, have nurtured a healthy appreciation for the men and women who run the Natchez Fire Department … especially the ever-tolerant and friendly ones who seem to realize, on our third loop past the station, that a wave from a firefighter is the next best thing to Christmas.

So it’s only natural that the department’s annual report would be of interest to me.

The report contains more facts, figures and information about the fire department — from equipment lists to numbers of calls answered — than two little boys I&160;know could possible digest … even if they could read.

And, for a 6-year-old wannabe-fireman and his nearly 3-year-old sidekick, well, the recently released annual report is likely to become a favorite &uot;read-to-me&uot; document, even if they can’t grasp all the information inside.

It’s pretty impressive as an adult &uot;read-to-me,&uot; too.

Prepared by Fire Chief Gary Winborne, and shared with the Natchez Mayor and Board of Aldermen on Tuesday, the report chronicles a year of service and training in our fire department.

And, thanks to the wizardry of desktop publishing and a personal computer, the report details an array of surprising … and interesting … statistics, including:

The Natchez Fire Department is Mississippi’s oldest chartered fire department, earning its charter on Feb. 19, 1819.

The Fire Department employs 61 people on three shifts and staffs four engines and one ladder truck. In addition, it owns two rescue boats.

The Natchez Fire Department responded to 878 service calls in 1999, with an additional 44 &uot;helicopter standby&uot; calls.

Of those calls, 581 were inside the city limits of Natchez. The remainder were outside city limits, including responses to assist volunteer fire departments in the Kingston, Lake Montrose and Liberty Road districts.

The busiest month, by far, was November, with 102 calls. Next were December, with 87; August, with 85; and September, with 78.

The department responded to 165 fire alarm calls and reports of 109 fires at single family homes; 118 vehicle fires; 104 grass or brush fires; and 40 industrial fires.

The department’s staff spent a total of 17,323.5 manhours in training during the year, on everything from time spent at the state fire academy to training on ladders, breathing apparatus and arson evidence.

Each call answered to an alarm within the city limits cost $2,230.

The department did all this on a budget of $1.954 million.

And, of course, the &uot;coolest&uot; page of the report is sure to be awarded to the photographs on the final page — two images showing firetrucks of the past and, in an impressive grouping, the entire fleet used during 1999.

It’s just the type of picture to keep sparking the dreams of a wannabe fireman.

Stacy Graning is editor of The Democrat. She can be reached at 446-5172 ext. 239 or via e-mail at stacy.graning@natchezdemocrat.com.