Sound the alarm! The fire alarm!

All 12-year-olds from Savage are invited to participate in an overnight fire camp at the fire stations.

“We want to give back to the community,” Fire Chief Joel McColl said. “We’re offering what we hope will be the first annual Junior Firefighters Dream Weekend.”

That weekend, Aug. 16 and 17, includes learning about auto extrication, car safety, hose streams, how to extinguish a fire, basic first aid and communication skills. Kids will also get to have water fights, watch movies, be fed and spend the night in the O’Connell Road firehouse with volunteer firefighters.

“We have to turn educational things into games,” McColl said. “We want to make our entire time with them productive.”

The hope, McColl said, is to instill the motto: “the courage to be safe,” and to have kids “share their experiences with others around them.”

Additionally, it will provide kids with insight and possibly motivation to join an Explorers program.

Firefighter Ken Deja, who helped organize the camp, said he hopes the weekend will open kid’s eyes to what it’s like to be a firefighter and how to interact with other kids in a positive way.

Fifteen 12-year-olds will be allowed to participate in the camp and will be given a hard hat and set of glasses for the weekend and separated into “squads.” Each squad will sport a different color shirt and spend time at both fire stations in town. Deja added the kids will get to ride in the fire trucks while traveling from one station to the next.

After the learning and socializing for the weekend, the participants and their families will attend a banquet where the kids will get a certificate and a CD of photos from the weekend.

The only way to register a child is to call McColl at (952) 882-2689. Only first 15 kids, boys or girls, will be admitted. There is no cost to participants. 

 Keighla Schmidt can be reached at kschmidt@swpub.com.