Dix Hills, NY - September 20, 2016 - The Dix Hills Fire District and the Town of Huntington created a week long Junior Fire Academy to expose local children aged 11-14 to both fire safety, as well as careers in emergency services and medicine.
The week started off with team building, physical fitness training and even learning how to stand in a military formation. The purpose of this discipline was to teach structure and how to take and give orders in an emergency. By the end of the first day, student Squad Leaders were assigned to run the formations. At the academy, each student was given a homework assignment to create fire safety escape plans. They were certified in CPR, taught bandaging, splinting and first aid, learned how to put on fire gear, got rides on the trucks, visited the County Fire Training Academy where they saw our volunteers battling house fires, got a tour of Police Helicopters, learned how to put out car fires and were taught emergency radio communications.
The Fire Academy’s Community Emergency Evacuation Coordinator Andrew McCaffery commending the action packed itinerary and well organized academy stated, “I am incredibly impressed. This effort should be used by other departments as a model for future academies in other districts.”
The Academy also had the backing of the Dix Hills Board of Fire Commissioners. “We were looking for ways to reach out to this wonderful community that supported us so well over the years. We enlisted the advice of the town board and the rest is history. We took a group of great young kids and got them wildly excited about fire trucks, ambulances and most importantly serving their community. Not only did the kids have a great experience, but our volunteers learned so much from the kids,” said Todd Cohen, Chairman.
At the conclusion of the excitement packed week, a graduation ceremony was held where the kids were awarded their completion certificates and they and their families had a barbeque with the volunteers. All of the graduates received their own CPR Rescue mask to use.
“It was my pleasure to help the Dix Hills Fire District create the Town’s first Junior Fire Academy,” said Councilwoman Susan A. Berland. “I know the kids all had an incredible experience and encouraging our next generation of fire fighters is an effort we should all support.”