July 19--BETHLEHEM, N.C. -- Junior firefighters are ensuring the legacy of Caleb Benfield will live on at Bethlehem Fire and Rescue.
Benfield died in a motorcycle accident in October. Once a junior firefighter himself, Benfield had become a firefighter with the Bethlehem Fire and Rescue when he turned 18, about a month before the crash. He was headed to the fire station to help lead a class on fire safety for a group of elementary school students when the motorcycle he was driving wrecked within sight of the station.
Bethlehem firefighters are hosting the Caleb Benfield Challenge this week, an event they plan to hold annually. Nine teenage junior firefighters moved in to the station on Sunday and have spent the week immersed in all things firefighting.
From vehicle extrication and water rescue to ladder testing and pump maintenance, the teens will continue to live the life of a firefighter through Saturday. They've cooked their own meals, woken up in the middle of the night to respond to a real wreck, and completed a simulated search.
Bethlehem Fire Chief Shannon Lowrance said he came up with the idea for the Caleb Benfield Challenge when he went to a memorial for fallen firefighters in Raleigh in May. Lowrance said Benfield's death was ruled an in-the-line-of-duty death, and as he saw Benfield's name engraved on a monument at the service, he decided to start the challenge in Benfield's name.
The goal of the program is to show aspiring firefighters what it feels like to be a full-time firefighter and to memorialize Benfield.
Two of Benfield's younger siblings, Daniel Benfield, 17, and Anna Benfield, 16, are taking part in the challenge.
Daniel said his brother would have approved of the event because it gives junior firefighters a chance to do everything a senior firefighter does. "It's nothing that you sit back on--you get up and do something and earn it yourself," he said.
Being a good firefighter requires an ability to work well under pressure, Daniel said, and the Caleb Benfield Challenge gives participants the hands-on experience and leadership skills to learn how to handle themselves in a real emergency.
"He loved doing anything hands-on and learning and taking his training to the next level," Anna said of her brother Caleb. "He would have been very inspired by the challenge."
Bethlehem Fire Lt. Jeff Davis is one of the advisers for the program. He responded to the wreck that claimed Caleb Benfield's life.
Davis described Benfield as a good, Christian boy who was passionate about fighting fires. "He said all he wanted to do was go in a burning building," Davis said. Benfield's wish to fight a real building fire was fulfilled just two weeks before his death.
Although the participants in the Caleb Benfield Challenge won't likely be entering any burning buildings this week, they did get the chance to put out a fire set in a dumpster. "It was a rush," said R.J. Weaver, 16. "It was my first time every putting out a fire with a hose."
Weaver noted that most of the junior firefighters didn't know each other well before they started the challenge, "but by the end of the week, we'll pretty much leave here as a family," he said.
All of the participants in the Caleb Benfield Challenge said they expected to become firefighters when they become adults, an outcome of the week-long challenge Benfield surely would have appreciated.
"It was unfortunate his life ended prematurely before he could explore all of it," Lowrance said. "You just want to keep his name alive. He enjoyed working with junior firefighters, and the challenge is just one way of keeping his name alive."
Copyright 2013 - Hickory Daily Record, N.C.
