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CHARLESTON -- The West Virginia Legislature's interim Joint Committee on Volunteer Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services heard a presentation on the West Virginia University (WVU) Extension Fire Service's Junior Fire Academy during its Tuesday meeting.
Mark Lambert, director of the WVU Extension Fire Service, told committee members that the Junior Fire Academy is held each summer, typically in June, and hosts youth from across the state, as well as from throughout the nation, who are interested in pursuing a firefighting or emergency operations career.
The academy is for those from ages 14-17. Each camper gets to stay in a cabin at Jackson's Mill in Lewis County for five days while they attend hands-on firefighter training courses, including urban and rural safety, first aid, CPR, interior firefighting and more, at the West Virginia State Fire Academy, Lambert explained.
"All of the courses are taught by firefighters and first responders who are subject matter experts in different areas," Lambert said, adding that the courses prepare the students to test for the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) 1001 Standard on Firefighter Professional Qualifications.
The cost for attendance is $450, Lambert said. However, Kanawha County has an agreement to pay for the first 10 junior campers who enroll as long as they reside in Kanawha County.
"Of course, I know that every county can't do that, but we'd certainly entertain the idea with any other counties that can," Lambert stated.
This past year, about 100 campers attended the academy, he continued. Every camper planned on becoming active with a department, 75 campers stated that they currently volunteer with fire departments, and 20 campers resided out-of-state.
About 25 percent of the campers each year are female, and there are female instructors on the all-volunteer staff, Lambert said.
In addition to providing quality introductory firefighting and emergency services training, Lambert said that another goal of the junior fire academy is to get young persons interested in a career that is struggling to recruit and retain volunteers.
"I grew up in the fire service in West Virginia," Lambert said. "I am a native of Madison. I'm here for the same reason you guys are. We've got to get younger people involved in the fire service in West Virginia. There's no doubt about it -- people like me are getting old."
Lambert said the average age of a volunteer firefighter in the state of Ohio is 56 years old. While he didn't have the exact average age of a volunteer firefighter in West Virginia, he estimated the average age is older than 56. In response to a question from Sen. Mark Maynard, R-Wayne, about volunteer firefighting testing requirements, Lambert said that a person is able to volunteer for a fire department at age 14 and 15, if they have received junior firefighter training.
"But you're pretty much confined to the station at those ages," Lambert said.
At age 16, a person can take the Firefighter 1 test, as long as they have at least 93 hours of standard training and have met prerequisites such as HazMat awareness/operations and First Aid/CPR.