A Maple Ridge boy celebrated his second birthday with a special visit from the Maple Ridge fire department.
At 9:40 a.m. on Wednesday, May 6, a firetruck pulled onto Thornton Avenue, off 216 Street, with the lights and sirens going to wish Kingston Okabe a happy birthday.
The driver pulled right up to the driveway where Kingston was standing with his mother, Akemi Okabe.
“He was just like big eyes and staring at them,” said his grandmother Carol Okabe who has lived with her husband, Doug, in Maple Ridge for 33 years.
“It was so surreal,” she said of the visit.
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The birthday greeting came about when Carol and her husband noticed a fire rescue truck parked in a driveway on one of the family’s evening strolls with Kingston.
Each night when they would pass the truck, they would say goodnight to it with their grandson.
Kingston has a love of firetrucks, explained Carol.
The grandparents decided they wanted him to have a special moment on his special day.
They found out the truck belonged to assistant fire chief Timo Juurakko and Carol reached out to him.
She asked if they could walk to the the firehall at 227th Street and Dewdney Trunk Road on Kingston’s birthday, to see an open a truck from the street.
But, Juurakko said they would do one better, and do a drive-by of their house.
The firefighters pulled to the end of the cul-de-sac and came back around, honking the horn, before leaving.
After, Carol asked her grandson what special dinner he would like for his birthday.
“Pancake please,” replied Kingston.
cflanagan@mapleridgenews.com
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