VIDEO: Instead of wearing shorts and swimsuits, teens are in heavy fire protection gear at a special summer camp on Long Island this week.
They’re learning what it takes to become volunteer firefighters amid a national firefighter shortage, CBS2’s Carolyn Gusoff reported Thursday. Camp Fahrenheit 516 is named for the blazing heat campers encounter while training as the next generation of volunteer firefighters.
“There’s not switch to turn off in here. They’re going into this building, what they come across burning is what, they’re gonna go on a call one day when they’re in their departments, and they go into a residence or a commercial building,” said Jerry Presta, chairman of the Nassau County Junior Firefighter Association.
At the nation’s only junior firefighting training camp with hands-on experience like this, 28 Long Islanders ages 14 to 17 learn if they have the right stuff to serve their communities.
Many already know they do.