August 27, 2003
Course instills burning desire
19 teens attend Fire Explorers Challenge at Camp Greilick
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Taking on the challenges and training of fire fighters, area teens completed the First Annual Fire Explorers Challenge held at Camp Greilick this weekend.
Saturday morning, the 19 participants put their heard-learned theory to the test as they practiced the basic skills of fire fighting: handling hoses, donning protective equipment, forced entry techniques and knot tying. Lectures, demonstrations and discussion rounded out the weekend's activities for the students, who camped on-site for the event.
Participants hailed from the Traverse City area, which does not currently have a Fire Explorers program, Kalkaska, which sports two programs, and McBain, which has one program. The McBain Fire Department brought the equipment for the hands on portions and Saturday morning the aspiring fire fighters swarmed over the Boy Scout camp's parking lot as they rotated among training exercises.
Sarah Long of Kalkaska, blond hair tucked into a short ponytail, initially struggled with the meticulous steps of putting on the self-contained breathing apparatus. This station included a timed test without coaching and Long was determined to make the grade. After a few practice runs of putting on her mask, regulator, air supply gauge, tank, helmet and picking up her gloves, she nailed her test by donning everything in under a minute.
"A friend of mine got me to join Fire Explorers last July," said Long, who recently graduated from Kalkaska High School. "I thought it was a lot of fun and I've already been voted onto the fire department when I complete my training."
For many like Long, being in the Fire Explorers and participating in the Challenge are just steps along the path to their ultimate goal.
"I want to be a firefighter," declared Amanda Wolschon, a junior this year at Kalkaska High School.
Wolschon has been involved with the Fire Explorers for three years. Her father and uncle are both fire volunteer fighters in Kalkaska and she plans to be a career fire fighter. She grew up at the station and going on runs and said fire fighting gets in the blood.
"I've grown up my whole life with this and it is just so interesting," she said Saturday afternoon on a short break between activities. "We're just starting ride alongs with our department."
The nationwide Fire Explorers program allows interested youth to learn the basics of fire fighting technique, theory and practice. While not all go on to be either a career fire fighter or volunteer fire fighter, the experience is invaluable.
"Being in the Explorers program makes you grow up fast," said Chad Duran, a Fire Explorer for three years and a 10th grade student this year at Kalkaska High School.
"You experience a lot of things and the most important thing after safety is teamwork," noted Duran, who also plans a fire fighting career. "We learn as a group and we meet weekly, every Tuesday, and two Thursdays a month we ride along on calls."
Members of the Northwest Michigan Volunteer Fire Fighters Association helped at the event, donating their time and energy to help nurture aspiring fire fighters. On Saturday morning, they guided the Fire Explorers through five stations: ropes and knots, equipment donning, ladders and forced entry, hose and nozzle and ventilation.
"This is a training ground to hopefully get them on the department with the fire fighters," said Coleen Hall, a fire fighter in McBain and the advisor for the McBain Fire Explorers program. "One Explorer just graduated and joined our department."
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, are in the minds of some young Fire Explorers, who vividly recall the loss of many fire fighters that day. Dan North of Kalkaska had already joined the Fire Explorers before September 11, but his first meeting with the group was on that emotional evening.
"That motivated me to stay in it," said North, who has already applied and been accepted into the Kalkaska department.
Emulating heroes motivates Nestina Jackson of Kalkaska, who joined the program to learn more about fire fighting even though she does not plan to make it her career.
"I'm just in it to learn as much as I can about the heroes in our world today," she said of fire fighters.