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By Ronnie Robertson
Advance Fire Dept.

ADVANCE – The 12th annual Advance Fire Camp was an exciting experience for the young teenagers who learned from local firefighters last month.
The camp, which was open to rising sixth-ninth graders, gives campers a glimpse of what firefighters do every day.
Camp began Monday, June 23 at 8:30 with pledge, prayer, review of the rules and a quick tour of the fire station.
Campers then mounted the fire trucks for a ride to the first activity. The morning exercise involved fire hose deployment, advancement, and nozzle operation. Everyone took a turn as nozzle person, and hose backup persons as they advanced the charged line and then hit a target.
To promote a spirit of team work, campers were placed on two teams and a competitive version of the old time bucket brigade was held.
The morning ended with a lesson on sprinkler operations and each camper having to wedge off a flowing sprinkler head.
Following lunch, campers were instructed about the protective turnout gear and breathing equipment (SCBA) firefighters wear. Everyone practiced putting on all the gear and SCBA. Then the competition began to determine who could get their gear on the quickest.
Tuesday began much the same with pledge, prayer, and review of the rules. The morning activity centered around a wrecked car and how to extricate injured people. All the campers practiced remove a victim and were able to work with extrication tools.
The next activity was DECON. Campers were contaminated with flour and learned how the decontamination wash is done.
After everyone changed into dry clothes, the evening was broken into four activities – repelling, a ride on the aerial ladder, time in the driving simulator, and drone operations.
On the final day campers began a round robin of events that included, searching the house to save the baby, knot tying, and learning about fire behavior and flashover. A flashover box was used to contain a fire and the campers were able to use a fire hose to control it.
The evening activities included learning CPR to the tune of “Baby Shark”, and basic first aid. The last event was a team version of the Firefighter Challenge Competition.
The camp concluded with a hamburger and hotdog cookout for campers and their families. The campers put on a demonstration of the Firefighter Challenge and were presented certificates.