Youthful Firefighters Get Respect Class Makes Teens Qualified, At Age 18, To Fight Forest Fires
Newport civic activist Imo Jones broke ground three years ago with a program to train high school students as volunteer firefighters.
This year the students broke ground - in fire lines.
Twenty-one teenagers in the junior firefighting program joined adults earlier this month in a four-day federal and state school for forest fire “guards.” The teens worked shoulder to shoulder with college-aged firefighting recruits for the U.S. Forest Service and the state Department of Natural Resources.
Except for some supplemental training in policies, such as prevention of sexual harassment, the high school students will be fully qualified to fight forest fires when they turn 18.
They’ll know the difference between “wet water,” which is good for soaking wood, and foam, which is good for smothering a fire.
They’ll know how to operate a pumper truck or the portable Mark III pump that is the backbone of forest fire water delivery. And they’ll know to check their equipment carefully before they strap on a “bladder bag” of water and hike a half-mile or so to a fire.
Certainly, they’ll have no illusions about how hard it is to build fire lines with a shovel or a Pulaski, the combination ax and hoe that is the principal tool in fighting forest fires.
“It’s better than doing absolutely nothing all summer long,” said Newport High School student Kimberly Greenland, 16.
“Though, if this keeps up, we’re going to wear our gloves out,” added classmate Ean Price, also 16.
Randy Ostman, fire management officer for the Forest Service’s Newport Ranger District, was pleased with the teens’ performance: “Going in, I had a few apprehensions about maturity levels and people interacting, but it’s gone well.”
That came as no surprise to Jones, who has seen a lot of successes since the junior firefighting program began in 1993 with a $5,000 budget.
The 20 teenagers in the first class had to settle for whatever used firefighting equipment and protective clothing Jones could scrounge. But success breeds success.
Several graduates distinguished themselves in local volunteer fire departments and cash-granting agencies took note. Jones boosted her budget to $16,000 in the second year and collected $36,000 this year.
No more used gear. Each of the 10 girls and 11 boys in this year’s program received a shiny new yellow helmet and new protective clothing to go with them. Also, graduates of previous classes are getting additional instruction.
Twenty alumni of the 1993 and 1994 classes were sent to the North Bend Training Academy in North Bend, Wash., this month for two days of professional training. They got more first-hand experience with burning buildings, the use of breathing equipment and search-andrescue techniques.
Most of the graduates remain active in the volunteer fire departments they were required to join as a condition of their initial training. The manpower is the greatest contribution to the departments, but the $788 worth of equipment that comes with each of this year’s graduates is no small item.
The students learn work skills and earn respect in their communities. This year’s full-fledged wildland firefighting course gives them a better chance of being rewarded with cash, too.
Ostman said the students who complete the Forest Service training this year will have an advantage if they want jobs fighting forest fires when they’re 18. (Although younger teens may fight structural fires for local fire departments, wildland firefighters must be 18.)
The Forest Service hired two graduates last year, and Matt Castle of the state Department of Natural Resources said his agency has hired about a half-dozen graduates of Jones’ program to fill in temporarily at big fires.
Ostman foresees long-term benefits as the high school program produces a pool of firefighters who are better trained than most of today’s adult volunteers.
Jones said adults increasingly are tagging along at the junior training sessions to keep from being shown up.
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