Okanagan high school students learning what it takes to become a firefighter

While the goal of the program is to provide these kids with life-long skills and lessons, it’s also a great opportunity for the fire department to get a head start on recruitment.

Thirteen high school students from across the Okanagan are getting a feel for what it’s like being a firefighter through a week-long junior firefighter bootcamp put on by the Lake Country Fire Department.

“It’s all the same requirements that we ask all of our firefighters to do, and it’s based on a national standard which is your NFPA1001, so they’re training the exact same way as we train our firefighters,” said Lake Country Fire Dept. Deputy Chief Kynan O’Rourke.

“We’re really happy to see them here.”

O’Rourke says the students are taking each challenge in stride, but some of the training has been easier said than done.

“They (the firefighters) did a little demonstration before and they made it look like it was nothing, and then we gave it a go and it took us a while,” said student Wyatt Mackill.

“There’s so much happening but it’s really exciting.”

Everyone enrolled in the camp will finish the week with a certificate in first aid, and while the goal of the program is to provide these kids with life-long skills and lessons, it’s also a great opportunity for the fire department to get a head start on recruitment.

“The only requirement we ask is that you have to be 19, so our students are going to go away with some great skills, and hopefully we get them coming back when they’re 19 and they can apply in and definitely have that on their resume,” said O’Rourke.