ELYSBURG - The next generation of possible heroes received the first taste Saturday of what it's like to be a real firefighter as Elysburg Fire Company hosted Day One of Fire Cadet Weekend. The camp will wrap up with a graduation today.
The program was the brainstorm of the fire company's president, Harvey Boyer, who got the idea when his son Marc attended a State Police Cadet program at Susquehanna University.
Boyer's thought was, "We can do this." With declining numbers in volunteer firefighters, he felt a cadet program would be a good way to rekindle interest among area youth.
Judging by the results of the camp Saturday, Boyer may be on to something. Twenty-two young adults, ages 12 to 17, lined up before 7:30 a.m. to sign in, have their blood pressure and heart rates checked and receive their official gear, which included shirts, gloves and Elysburg Fire Company water bottles.
Blaine Madara Jr. led the group in several icebreaker activities that had cadets doing pushups, leap-frogging and other fun activities that helped everyone get to know each other.
State police fire investigator Norm Fedder supervised a live fire demonstration. As a practice house burned, cadets observed actual operations of an emergency call. They listened to radio communications between volunteers, watched as firefighters extinguished the small blaze and witnessed follow-up procedures, including temperature checks.
Following the demonstration, Boyer told cadets that he hoped they paid attention to all that went on - how firefighters maneuvered the hose and how they had their gear on. He then smiled and said, "You're going to get to do all that."
Cadets experienced exercises in hose advancement and fire extinguishment with Ray Siko and Eric Haupt, fire extinguisher use with Chris Slodysko and Cal Deitrick, vehicle rescue with Dennis Kroh and Joe Pechulis, search and rescue with Dale Hendricks and Doug Gessner, wild land firefighting with Scott Slodysko and rope rappel and rescue with Mike Timko and Bob Baigis.
Volunteers' wives and other family members helped serve lunch and assist wherever they were needed.
Participants taking part in the cadet weekend are Marc Boyer, Elysburg; Darren Brown, Turbotville; Calvin and Elias Deitrick, Elysburg; Luke Donmoyer, Paxinos; Jake Gessner, Elysburg; Tyler Hendricks, Catawissa; Gage Hertzog, Atlas; Ryan Hopta, Paxinos; Carter Houseknecht, Elysburg; Lane Hunsinger, Bloomsburg; Aaron Kroh, Paxinos; Angelica Masser, Paxinos; Kyle Neisweider, Bloomsburg; Tyler Ober, Wilburton; Sean Rickendrfer, Catawissa; Evelina Scicchitano, Mount Carmel; Eli Seidel, Elysburg; Jarred and Gabe Slodyski; Mount Carmel, Dawson Temple, Milton, and Christian Traynor, Shamokin.
Most cadets, like Angelica Masser, Luke Donmoyer, and Elias and Calvin Deitrick, said they enjoyed the search and rescue part the best. In that segment, cadets crawled blindly into a smoke-filled room with full gear, including oxygen tanks, and rescued a doll. Ryan Hopta said his favorite activity was the rope rescue, which meant rappelling down from a practice building's second-story window.
At the end of the day, the kids seemed a bit tired, as were the instructors. But when Boyer asked who would be coming back today, all hands went up.
Boyer announced today's activities will begin with an appearance and demonstration from Life Flight. But he wouldn't tell cadets any more, except for announcing there will be several special guests.