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A day in the
life...First Due Firefighter Camp – Day 3
Rhonda Griffin
While some teenagers are
enjoying their break from school by sleeping
in or soaking up rays at the beach, 17 of
Bladen County's junior firefighters are
spending part of their summer vacation at
camp. But this is not just any camp – it's
First Due Firefighter Camp – and most of the
participants have agreed so far that it's
not quite what they were expecting.
The cadets are taking
part in a grueling two-week session that
teaches them not only firefighting and
lifesaving skills, but also the values of
teamwork and watching out for each other,
all wrapped up in an almost boot camp-style
program that is filled with good-humored
fun. Each day begins with stretching
exercises and a 1.5 mile lap around
Elizabethtown with a combination of
marching, walking and running, followed by
the lessons for the day.
Today's lessons –
Turnout gear training and Day 3 of CPR
training.
Hosted by the
Elizabethtown Fire Department, First Due
Firefighter Camp is the first of its kind in
Bladen County. And, without a doubt, these
cadets are working hard to prove themselves
to the instructors, but the intense work
isn't doing a thing to sway their
determination.
“I didn't hear a lot
about what we would be doing until I got
here the first day,” Tar Heel Station 57
Junior Firefighter John Hunsinger said
Wednesday. “It's not bad to me, but it's
different than I expected.”
His brother, Tar Heel
Junior Firefighter Chris Hunsinger, said, “I
like it! It can be hard sometimes, but I
know it will pay off in the end.”
Elizabethtown Station 55
Junior Firefighter ShaLia Freeman said, “I
love it... It's pain, but I love it!”
Freeman went on to say that she wants to
make a career of firefighting and chose to
attend the camp because, “I knew it would
make me better as a person.”
So far, one cadet said
that she knew what she was getting into, but
has been looking forward to the camp for
some time. “From listening to everybody
around the station talking about the camp, I
expected a lot,” Elizabethtown Junior
Firefighter Caitlin Cross said. “They told
me it would be brutal.”
But when their time in
camp is done, these cadets will be able to
take back to their stations an extensive
working knowledge of what to do when their
tones go off for a call – and they will have
the bragging rights of their survival of
First Due Firefighter Camp.
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