EXPLORERS: Program mentors young adults, many of whom are hired by AFD
By MEGAN BAEZA
Anchorage Daily News (Alaska)
Copyright 2006 Anchorage Daily News
All Rights Reserved
Though the Anchorage Fire Department’s Fire Explorers program has been around for more than two decades, each year fresh recruits breathe new life into the program.
More than 50 interested youths between the ages of 14 and 21 attended last month’s recruitment session with their parents to ask questions and learn what is expected of participants.
“After the interview process, we ended up choosing 23,” said Josh Browning, a firefighter and paramedic with the Fire Department. Browning also serves as one of four program advisers.
The program follows a paramilitary structure that introduces participants to the organizational flow of most fire departments and EMS systems in America. Participants learn firefighting and advanced rescue skills and EMS procedures.
The junior firefighting program has two parts, Browning said.
“The first is, they come in each week for three hours for classroom instruction; it’s where we teach them what it means to be a firefighter. The second is community involvement.”
Explorers volunteer at venues such as the annual Guns and Hoses charity hockey game between local police and fire department members and open houses at local schools.
The program requires meeting attendance and a minimum high school GPA of 2.0.
Anchorage firefighters serve as program advisers, and volunteer their experience to teach a variety of skills. Browning, a two-year department veteran and former explorer himself, enjoys the mentor relationship that builds between explorer and adviser.
“It’s a lot of fun. ... We’re rewarded everyday by what we see. They have full access to us and can come to us with whatever problems they’re dealing with. That’s how it was when I was an explorer,” he said.
The program benefits the department, participants and the community at the same time, said Doug Schrage, deputy chief of fire operations.
“As a department, the program gives us a chance to work directly with the participants, many of whom will choose a career in the fire service. In addition, the explorers assist the department in many of its training exercises,” he said.
As participants advance through the ranks, they learn valuable lessons in leadership and commitment that can apply to whatever career choices they make, Schrage said.
“We really try to cultivate a good, positive work ethic in them,” he said. “They are taught a lot about their own endurance and their ability to commit themselves to coming to weekly training -- on top of the reading and studying they’re doing.”
Schrage said many explorers find their way onto Anchorage fire engines as professional firefighters.
“A lot of the young ones that start at 14 or 15 stay all the way through the end,” he said. “Many get hired by our department. At the moment, I’d say we have about 40 full-time firefighters who were explorers at one time, including a battalion chief and a number of captains.”