Take 30 young men and women ranging in age from 14 to 18 years old, from 13 different fire department junior firefighter/Explorer programs, bring them together for seven hours a day for five days during one of the hottest weeks of the year, and put them through challenging firefighter scenarios in full bunker gear and SCBA … and you have Fahrenheit 516!
That’s exactly what the Nassau County, NY, Junior Firefighter Association (NCJFA) accomplished last summer. The association’s Board of Directors met with the chiefs and staff of the Nassau County Fire Service Academy (FSA), a division of the Nassau County Vocational Education and Extension Board (VEEB), and, recognizing the natural relationship, planned this extraordinary event.
The NCJFA was formed in January 2006. Since its inception, the association has had field trips to the FSA annually (but not actual hands-on, live-burn training) since 2009. The association has also successfully completed four Certified First Responder EMS programs sponsored by VEEB and the North Shore–Long Island Jewish Hospital System for its members and they have had to travel for their summer fire camps. Scholastically, they have awarded eight scholarships and invited fire service leaders and speakers to their monthly meetings. Additionally, the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) recognized the association as the only organization for junior firefighters in the country.
The ethos of the NCJFA is to bring all junior firefighters in Nassau County together, form camaraderie and friendship, train and play together and ultimately grow together while training. It is that last credo that allowed the following events to be set in motion.
Rather than traveling more than five hours to attend a similarly organized camp in other states, the NCJFA approached the FSA to utilize their state-of-the-art Class A burn facilities. For five days, from 9:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m., the young future firefighters of Nassau County were groomed for the position as they participated in evolutions on: donning and doffing PPE and SCBA; portable ground ladders; search procedures; ropes and knots; forcible entry and hand tools; advanced mask confidence training and emergency procedures; hoseline selection, placement and operations; commercial building and vehicle fire evolutions.
The specialized curriculum was designed by the FSA’s Chief John Brown and Assistant Chief of Training Robert Hughes. The FSA chiefs, together with the NCJFA’s training committee, settled on the terminal objectives to provide a fun, worthwhile, and educational real-life experience for the young attendees in safe, and supervised, live-fire training scenarios. By all accounts the objectives were well exceeded. In fact, on the last day of the camp, the participants were given an evaluation to complete. Even with temperatures in the 90s with high humidity almost the entire week, the overwhelming sentiment of the junior firefighters was that “the camp was too short!” It was an overwhelming and positive outcome to what had been planned by the FSA and NCJFA training committee.
Although a good number of junior firefighter/Explorer participants had handled hoses, worn firefighting gear and had some introduction in the realm of fire science and fighting from their own departments, very few had any live-fire training experience or team building exercises as laid out in the Fahrenheit 516 camp curriculum.
Even though this was the inaugural camp outing, the curriculum and jam-packed schedule was as challenging for the participants as was the weather. However, the weather was overcome by the enthusiasm, excitement, and empowerment of the program. Even the FSA instructors enjoyed their time together with the firefighters of tomorrow. Here’s a sample of the daily routine, which was fashioned from the FSA summer combo classes for the county’s probationary firefighters, which provide two weeks of classroom and hands-on training that meet the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control’s Essentials of Firefighting, and Firefighter I requirements.
Day 1: Sign in, overview, staff expectations, and schedule followed by morning lectures on safety and procedures. After lunch the campers started with 2-minute donning exercise drills with PPE and SCBA. Soon after that introduction, they went through a blacked-out maze on-air for a dry run and familiarization of the SCBA. The day concluded with conducting the same searches with partners and in a simulated smoke environment utilizing theatrical smoke.
Day 2: After meeting for the 2-minute SCBA donning drill (which was held at the start of each day), the juniors then started learning about fire behavior and classifications of fire. Next was the 2-minute drills, followed by right- and left-handed searches, low-profiling maneuvers, emergency escape and entrapment, confined space, and emergency escape procedures, plus team search techniques.
Day 3: After the 2-minute SCBA drills (which the participants and instructors were starting to see marked improvement) the juniors learned about hand and power tools, traditional forcible entry techniques, and lectures on ventilation, overhaul, and fire extinguishers. The afternoon portion of the camp included putting that knowledge learned to practical use forcing doors and working with through-the-lock techniques, overhauling with hooks and hand tools, being introduced to power saws and extinguishing Class A & Class B fires with hand-held extinguishers.
Day 4: Following the 2-minute drills and basic hoseline evolutions, the juniors were treated to a first-hand look at raging fires up close. They attended a session in the fire behavior lab, and extinguished real fires using handlines. The day ended with instruction on ground ladders.
Day 5: On their last day, the camp participants received training on knots and vehicle fires. Returning from lunch, the juniors once again put the knowledge gained earlier in the day to practical use fighting vehicle fires and tying knots on hoses and tools.
As the camp came to an end, the opportunities for bigger and better options were discussed. The idea of formulating this experience was five years in the making and in just as many days had provided the future of Nassau County’s volunteer fire service with invaluable experiences as well as practical firefighting lessons to enhance their future training. The vision for Fahrenheit 516 was in the planning stages for nearly 18 months and this opportunity for the participants is truly something no one else in this area would be able to emulate. A natural relationship had been formed.
After the success of this first of what is sure to become an annual event, the FSA staff and NCJFA’s training committee will surely revise and enhance the curriculum to provide the best training and camp experience for this diverse group of motivated individuals.
As a side note, it is with the cooperation of many individuals and organizations that help make such a dream become a reality. Some of those organizations include the VEEB, FSA, Boy Scouts of America, Port Jefferson Sports, Nassau County’s 5th Battalion Softball League, and the East Norwich, Farmingdale, Floral Park, Hicksville and Massapequa fire departments, who provided EMS standby units. Chief Naughton of the Floral Park Fire Department provided lunch for the attendees on Tuesday.
For more information please visit the NCJFA’s website at www.ncjfa.org and click on “Fire Camp.” You can also find the camp synopsis video on You Tube by searching “Nassau Juniors Camp Fahrenheit 2015.”
JERRY PRESTA is a firefighter/EMT with the East Norwich Fire Department and has served as a juniors adviser since 1999. Presta has served as the chairman of the board of the Nassau County Junior Firefighters Association since 2000 and has severed on regional and state committed for junior firefighting. He is also a union foreman electrician and a local union motor control instructor for Local 3 IBEW.
