With the stay-at-home order in place, people have nothing going on and you're about to read proof behind that statement.

At the beginning of April, many communities jumped on board with birthday "trains." The idea for vehicles driven by family, friends, and neighbors to the lineup in an area that will accommodate, decorate the outside of their vehicle, and then drive by the birthday person's home. This usually involves hootin' and hollerin' and horns blaring. And, in most cases, firefighters and police officers join in on the parade, making it even more of a spectacle and surprise for the special person. You would think it's a great way for communities to come together but no everyone agrees.

A fire department across the border in Iowa has actually had complaints about their sirens during birthday trains.

It’s true, we were detoured of our efforts to make a child’s Birthday more special by doing fire truck drive-by’s from some complaints from locals.

Clinton Fire Department is not backing down from these people who probably yell "get off my lawn" on a regular basis. In their post on Facebook not only did the department explain why they participate in those "parades."

Our mission is simple, Duty, Pride and Commitment. Our department has weighed the request from so many and we have decided to resume the fire truck drive-by’s. During the three days we were providing the service we had collected more thank you cards and smiles than we had in a whole years time. We feel this is not only what our community needed but realized it was what we needed. Our firefighters have been through allot over the past several years. When we can drive by a home and see some little smiles and allot of waves we are not only warming those hearts but also warming our own.

The CFD also said they're not backing down for being a part of the fun.

Our service is for the public. Fire and Rescue is our bread and butter. But we are and always have been here for the community. Whether it’s changing a light bulb for an elder, finishing up a yard mow from someone that just went to the hospital or cleaning spilled spaghetti sauce on ones floor, (yes we have). The service we provide is for the public, that’s the oath we took, Duty, Pride and Commitment.
So if you have a little one that is celebrating a Birthday please call the fire station and schedule it. We will do our best to accommodate your request!

I would like to live the life of one of those who made these complaints because they must have nothing worse going on in their lives at this particular moment. Check out their post here.


JB Love is ½ of  Q98.5's Lil Zim & JB In The Morning, weekday mornings from 5:00 a.m. to 10 a.m. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

KEEP READING: Creative Ways to Bring Joy to Your Neighborhood While Social Distancing

More From Rockford's New Country Q98.5