This summer, while some teens are spend hours at the beach or pool working on their tans, nearly 64 ‘Juniors’ and ‘Explorers’ aged 14-18 from 25 fire departments across Nassau and Suffolk counties will come together for a week to participate in “Camp Fahrenheit 516,” which is sponsored by the Firefighters Association of the State of New York (FASNY). This year 13 teenagers from Lower Saxony, Germany and 2 teens from Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania, will also be participating in this week-long junior fire training course at the Nassau County Fire Academy in Bethpage.
Starting July 21, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., these teens will receive the most intense firefighting training at “Camp Fahrenheit 516” for five straight days. They will experience training courses such as mask confidence, search and rescue, forcible entry, emergency evacuation procedures, ground ladders, fire extinguisher drills, two-minute drills, second story bailouts, and ropes as well as live propane, car and warehouse fires. To celebrate the 10 year anniversary, there will also be a live fire evolution of past camper alumni that are now part of their fire departments.
On Thursday, July 24 starting at 10 am, the Nassau County Fire Service Academy in conjunction with FASNY will host a media day at “Camp Fahrenheit 516” to show reporters just how intense these junior firefighters are being trained and give these teens a chance to show off what Long Island’s future of firefighting looks like…