Local youths are given opportunity for some hands-on fire training3/22/2008 10:30 PM 
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By SUZANNE R. STONE
Staff writer
A group of teenagers and young adults in the Explorer Post Fire Training Program got to close the books and move on to the practical Saturday.
The class's nine members had their final class in the 80-hour South Carolina Fire Academy class 1152 "Fundamentals of Basic Interior Structural Fighting" Saturday. They took their written exams and performance tests, which included dressing out in firefighting gear in less than one minute; entering, clearing and extinguishing fires within a structure; and a demonstration of ladder skills.
"This is the last class, and they'll have their final burn today," said Silver Bluff Fire Department volunteer firefighter Miraya Freeland. "Post 17 from the Silver Bluff Fire Department is hosting this in cooperation with the Boy Scouts of America. We've got five Explorers from Silver Bluff, one from the Jackson Fire Department, one from the city of Aiken Department of Public Safety and two from Beech Island."
Said SBFD chief Kerry Green, "They're all operating under our Fire Service Explorer Post. We were able to pull this together through a grant from FEMA two years ago. We're the only Explorer Post in the county, and we're only the second Explorer Post in the state to have done this training course."
The Fire Service Explorers Program offers aspiring firefighters age 14 to 21 a chance to gain hands-on experience and training. Explorers under 18 who complete the program will receive notification of pass/fail on the course right away, but will not receive their firefighting certifications from the S.C. Fire Academy until their 18th birthdays.
"I saw a sign on Silver Bluff that said volunteers were needed. My mom is a Boy Scouts of America leader and she met the Chief at a meeting. He told her about the Explorer Post, and I said I was interested," said Cameron Vanous, 17. "I decided to follow through and take the course. I think I'll go on with it; it's something I'm interested in doing. It's all been fun, and I'm looking forward to finishing it and passing the test."
Vanous said he plans on volunteering with the Silver Bluff Fire Department once he is eligible.
Said Lisa Fountain, mother of 16-year-old Explore student Adam Glover, "I was very proud he wanted to do this. He's been in the Silver Bluff Fire Department station a couple of years now, started as an Explorer with the SBFD at 15, riding with his older brother. He's a very dedicated young man about this."
More information about the Fire Service Exploring Program is available online at www.learningforlife.com/exploring/fire/index.html.
"My dad's been a firefighter for 30-some-odd years, and I've been around the fire department since I could walk," said 17-year-old Daniel Davenport. "I've always been fascinated by fire trucks and by the adrenaline rush. When I got the opportunity to take this class, I jumped right into it. It's fun, and it's something not everybody gets to do. Firefighting is not an easy thing."
Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com.