A “fire camp” is normally associated with a designated location at large fires, where firefighters can rest between shifts on the fire line. They have existed in one form or another since the early 1800s when large wildland fires were a danger to organized communities and large numbers of personnel were needed to contain and extinguish the fire.

Today, fire camps consist of feeding, medical, sleeping, equipment parking and maintenance areas, and shower/restrooms for weary firefighters.

Here , firefighters can receive a medical checkup, get treated for minor injuries, and prepare themselves to re-enter the fight after a few hours of rest.

But there is another fire camp that some communities offer during the early part of summer just after school has let out for the year. In Lompoc, the roster to attend this class was filled up weeks in advance as soon as this year’s camp was announced.

According to a posting by the Fire Department on the city website: “Fire Camp was held June 14th through the 16th at Fire Station 51 (in the old town area).  The camp consisted of children ages 7-10, who were divided into A, B, and C shifts.

“Each shift was able to participate in 6 different tasks: Search and Rescue, Extinguishers/Kitchen Fire Demo, Station, and Engine Tours, Hose Rolling and Loading, Rappelling/Ladder Climb, and Basic First Aid.

“The events were meant to educate the children on Fire Safety and expose them to some of the task’s firefighters are asked to perform.”

But there is something else the camp instructors helped the kids understand — teamwork. 

In almost any endeavor these kids will encounter in adult life, teamwork and cooperative effort is essential to success.

For example, a popular band is composed of members who support each other and the lead singer to produce hit recordings. Or at medical institutions it takes a dedicated team to earn the patients’ respect and ensure a successful outcome.

My wife and I attended the “graduation” at the end of the Lompoc Fire Camp this year; our granddaughter had attended as a child and now her daughter was attending. Here is where teamwork was on full display.

The last activity of the week was a bucket brigade which was the way vintage firefighters got water to their hand powered pumpers before water systems, fire hydrants and motorized fire engines were in use.

The objective at fire camp was for three teams of 12 kids each to move water from one point to another. The team filling the large container at the end of the line first would be the winner.

The way this was done was by the first kid filling his/her bucket, then passing it down the line until the 12th kid dumped it in the tub. Judging by the shouts of the kids for “buckets” and the spilling of water as the buckets passed hand-to-hand, they were having a great time. At the end of the activity there wasn’t a dry kid left standing.

I am not so sure they could have completed this task on the first day of the camp. But as they participated in all the events, they became more confident of their ability to perform several tasks they had never even thought about before this week as a group.

But the kids aren’t the whole story. Firefighters deal in tragic events all year long and as I observed, the firefighters who were present that day were all smiling and recharging their batteries through the energy of the kids who attended the camp.

I would say Lompoc Fire Camp 2023 was a blazing success.