Fire station changes into haunted house

The Green Valley Fire District is hosting its 15th annual Halloween Safehouse, where kids can play carnival games or brave the eerie haunted house.

This year’s theme is “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” and features an alien autopsy, Elasto-Girl, conjoined twins and the monster in the closet.

That’s one scary monster. (But don’t worry, it’s just Capt. Tom Louis.)

More than 40 volunteers have been working since September to transform station 151 at 555 N. La Canada Drive into a Halloween haunt and a safe alternative to trick-or-treating.

Volunteers include GVFD workers and family members, students from the Sahuarita High School ROTC, the Fire Corps, Community Emergency Response Team of Green Valley and Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers, who help direct traffic.

The Safehouse opened Tuesday and will continue at 6 tonight. The event is free, but the fire district is accepting donations for the Community Food Bank.

“We usually have about 1,000 kids show up over the two nights,” said Firefighter Diane Vetter, who designed and planned this year’s haunted house and jokes that she found creative inspiration during her 45-minute commutes from Tucson each day.

It’s clear that the volunteers have just as much fun as the kids do, and maybe more.

“We would love to have the Safehouse last a whole week, but we have to remember that this is still a working fire station,” said Vetter, laughing.

“Where would we park the fire trucks?”

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726