A group of Esquimalt High School students are spending their spring break learning the ins and outs of fighting fires with the Esquimalt Fire Department.
The inaugural week-long youth fire academy was organized primarily to develop connections within the community and mentor students, said firefighter and program instructor Reed MacPhail.
“We thought we could do a lot more within our community and we thought that creating a school program would be the best because we could get into the high schools, start meeting kids that might want to be firefighters and if they don’t want to be firefighters, at least they’ve been exposed to the opportunity to see what the job is like,” MacPhail said.
During the program, which began March 20 and will run until March 24, the kids get to wear the gear, learn the skills and test out their new expertise in a variety of scenarios. Additionally, they will earn their CPR certificate and learn life-saving first aid techniques.
While not every high school student would swap sleeping in late and relaxing during spring break for wearing almost 45 pounds of gear and climbing through holes in the wall, several of these students have always wanted to do this job.
Participant Heath Robertson said he’s wanted to be a firefighter since he was a young kid.
“It’s a career I’ve wanted and pursued since I was four or five and I was super excited to have this opportunity,” Robertson said.
Anaya Bath said she wants to be a firefighter as well, so learning the techniques and skills of the job has been helpful for shaping her goals.
“I want to be a firefighter because I want to help people, improve the community and improve lives,” Bath said. “I really enjoy all the activities, it gives you an idea of what they do. The weight of all the outfits, all the physical activity - what you need to work on or what you don’t need to work on - it’s really good.”
Like Bath, Owen Jones also has his heart set on being a first responder. As someone who has always found police, firefighters and paramedics “super cool,” Jones said he was excited for the academy.
“When this opportunity came around, I couldn’t pass it up,” Jones said. “It’s a blast - I can’t say anything bad about it, it’s a ton of fun. The drills are awesome, the experience is cool, it gives a sense of what it’s like and I’m loving every second of it.”
The goals of the program are both to ensure the kids leave with an understanding of the job, but also that they are safe, have fun and make those connections along the way. Creating a positive experience for the kids will go a long way in inspiring them to be firefighters, MacPhail said, but that doesn’t have to be the end goal.
“If these kids don’t want to become firefighters at the end of the day, then that’s totally fine - at least we can help them on their way with whatever they want to do,” MacPhail said. “Even after this program ends, we give them our contact information and if they need mentoring or if they want any guidance or if we have any resources available to help them, we’re going to do that.”
At the end of the week, the group will celebrate all they’ve learned with a full scenario, where they will demonstrate their new skills, followed by a barbecue with the crew.
READ MORE: Esquimalt Fire Department celebrates 20 years of service
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