Eight local teens will soon be beating back flames while learning to work together as a team.
This year's Junior Fire Academy, the fourth such program to run in Squamish, takes place April 27 and 28 at Fire Hall 1 in Valleycliffe.
The student participants are all in grades 11 or 12.
Unlike in past years, this time students get two days of training at the hall.
The first day, the local students will become air pack certified.
Air packs are the 30 pounds breathing apparatuses firefighters carry on their backs. Each pack has 40 minutes of air for the firefighter, according to Neil Deo, a Squamish volunteer firefighter, and organizer of the academy.
The second day the students will put out a fire.
"They all have to walk in toward the propane tank, shut the valve off while keeping everyone away from the fire," Deo explained. "And they have to do it fast, fast, fast — that is key."
Previously, the academy was a one-day training session.
"In years past, we were not allowed to use fire on the training site because the kids had to be certified," said Deo.
The students will have to work in teams: one leader, with four firefighters.
They will gain invaluable experience handling the tools of the firefighting trade and seeing what the job is like.
As with previous academies, the students will also try their hands at running up a ladder wearing firefighting gear, dragging a "victim" to safety, spraying a target with the fire hose, simulating going through a burning building and doing an extraction with the Jaws of Life, among other things.
Learning to work as a team and under stress are skills that are useful in any job, Deo said.
"They are going to have to work together and solve problems together," he added.
Members of the BC Ambulance Service will be on hand for the academy to make sure the students stay safe.
"They are constantly checking in on the children's vital signs, making sure that they are able to keep performing the tasks. After every activity, they get their pulse checked, their oxygen levels are checked," Deo said.
Almost all of the adults involved in the academy are volunteering their time.
"The firefighters we have in our department are really community-oriented," Deo said. "They don't get paid for it. We are volunteers. We do all this stuff on our own time."
Deo said corporate sponsors have jumped on board with the academy and supply lunches, snacks and funds for hats and t-shirts for participants.
Two of the attendees will be eligible for a scholarship, Deo said.
