PROCTORSVILLE, Vt. (WCAX) – As fire calls increase throughout the state some departments are turning to teens to help.
While having a junior firefighter program takes a lot of resources to run, a handful of towns in the state have teenagers training and ready to fight fires by the time they’re old enough. We take you to Proctorsville.
“I’ve been around it my whole life. And I just love doing things for the community. And I love firefighting.” Britin Baldwin has been firefighting with Proctorsville for 4 years. He was a junior firefighter four years before that.
“It’s always fun training new. Even the lowest level, you here for a year you still have more knowledge than the person that’s just got here so it’s fun to share knowledge with, up-and-coming newcomers,” said Baldwin.
He’s watched junior firefighters Chayse Perry and Miles Glidden climb the ranks too, who are 16 and 17 years old. They’re two of the 12 juniors right now who are training, memorizing, helping on scenes, and working towards getting their certifications.
“I’ve been running calls with the firefighters for a couple months now. And it’s been great. It kind of feels like something I’d like to do in the future,” said Perry.
Appropriately trained 16-year-olds can help out at some emergencies, and 18-year-olds can officially join the squad.
“It’s really just training and memorizing everything and waiting until I can finally respond,” said Miles Glidden.
“We expose the kids to everything within the fire service safely. You get to use all of our tools in a non-hazardous atmosphere.” Deputy chief Bob Glidden, who was a junior himself, and captain Seth Perry say the program has grown in the past few years, always hovering with a team of 12 to 15 juniors.
They recruit by going to the next-door elementary school and have one day a week dedicated to junior training. There are around 10 to 15 juniors in the department over the years who have been retained as full-time volunteers.
“We’ve had several that have their life has taken them other places. They’ve either joined the medical field, or they’ve done work in fire alarm systems and things like that. So while they don’t always go into the fire service, it prepares them for life,” said Glidden.
The department finished a record-breaking call year with over 170 calls, over 20 more than their last record. The July flooding played a role, and they’re expanding EMS capacity. They’re fully staffed with 24 volunteers but the team says the more juniors the better. “They’re they’re eager to go and they want to be there. So we’re ready for the challenge,” said Glidden.
There’s also the Vermont Firefighter’s Association Cadet Academy, which is also a popular route for junior firefighters to get trained in fire service.
Proctorsville isn’t the only town working with junior firefighters. The Vermont Division of Fire Safety says the programs are a good way for young people to get exposed to opportunities in fire service and hopefully, they’ll stick around or come back in their adult life.
They say junior organizations in the state are flexible to meet the needs of each individual department with some programming more informal than others.
“They function in a limited capacity that’s safe and within the scope of their abilities. And then we see them go on to when they’re old enough, get formal training as a firefighter and either volunteer in their communities while they pursue their careers,” said Michael Skaza with the Vt. Division of Fire Safety.
Skaza says with staffing being an issue in many departments, it’s not always feasible to operate a junior program. But in many instances, the departments can retain juniors if they do have a program.
Another fruitful way to recruit young people is the Vermont State Firefighter’s Association Summer Cadet Academy, which is a training program that results in many students becoming fire-certified when they are of age.