For its 17th year, WVU Extension’s Junior Fire Camp kicked off over the weekend, bringing in 140 students from all over to the West Virginia Fire Academy in Weston with the goal of increasing the rate of firefighter participation nationwide.
The Junior Fire Camp is a nationally recognized program for students ages 14 through 17, with only a few held throughout the country.
During the week, students learn the techniques and requirements to fight fires, including ladders & truck company operations and pumps and firehoses, along with mass causality incident and EMS training.
Thirty-nine West Virginia counties were represented at this year’s camp with the furthest participant traveling from Texas. The record of most female students was hit in this week’s camp as well.
12 News spoke with Mark Lambert, director of WVU Extension’s State Fire Training Academy, on the importance of hosting training camps like this.
“In West Virginia, 92% of firefighters are volunteers in this state. If you have a car wreck or your house catches on fire, odds are, it’s going to be volunteer firefighters show up. They’re just as well-trained as career firefighters. They’re volunteering their time and energy, and the numbers of volunteer and career firefighters have been dwindling across the US in the last 20 years. We want to make sure that there’s still somebody there to get you out of a wrecked car or out of a burning house moving forward and make them a good member of the community,” said Lambert.
On Monday, Senator Shelley Moore-Capito paid a visit to the Junior Fire Camp, speaking with students and learning about their training.
In an interview with 12 News, Senator Capito said that a firefighter grant bill will soon pass in the US Senate and that funding like it helps continue and establish programs just like this one.
“Here’s what I think is fantastic about this camp, we are having trouble in the workforce, we are having trouble with not enough people volunteering. Every student that I’ve asked, ‘are you enjoying it, are you learning a lot?’ They are so excited to be here. They’re going to carry that into their adult life. A lot of them are already junior volunteer firefighters. This is the next generation doing the great things that we’ve seen saving and helping our communities,” said Senator Capito.
Junior Fire Camp will conclude Thursday with students receiving certificates from the Governor’s office and the State Fire Marshal as well as some CPR and EMS cards.
Next year’s camp will be held June 14 through 19 with applications opening at the beginning of January. You can apply for the camp through WVU Extension’s website.