Turkey Creek Fire Territory Battalion Chief, Brian Richcreek, left, takes Brie Powers, Hadley Brewton and Kennedy Francis up in the ladder.

By Blair Baumgartner
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — Day Two at Camp H.E.R.O. was an absolute blast as campers learned different fire rescue techniques. After the Milford Fire Department demonstrated a vehicle extrication, the campers practiced fire safety techniques such as how to rescue a person, how to flee a fire and how to operate a fire extinguisher, spray hose and ladder truck.

“We try to simulate a down fireman team building exercise. If we go down during a fire it takes multiple men to pull one person out on a mayday. Trying to rescue a 200 pound man with gear is one of the team building exercises on how to perform a rescue,” said Garrett Holderman, Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Fire Chief.

“This exercise could also simulate how to rescue a family member during a fire. We have our Save-A-Life House trailer to use as a simulation. It has a fog machine. We always tell kids to meet at the mailbox and if they don’t readily know where someone is, don’t go looking for them, but immediately go to the meeting place at the mailbox,” he said.

“We also teach them how to crawl and not to grab any doorknobs during a fire. In the case of a mayday, where someone goes down, we want to know where they went down and if they’re trapped. We don’t want anyone running out of air,” he said.

“Camp is going great. I’m really enjoying how everyone’s having a good time. My favorite part of camp is the paramedics because they get to save people’s lives,” said camper Gunnar Whitaker.