June 21, 2012

4:00 PM

Portland Fire & Rescue is holding its 4th annual Metro Fire Camp for young women June 22nd through June 24th. The camp will be held at Portland Fire's training grounds at 4800 N. E. 122nd. Press is invited to attend the camp on Saturday, June 23rd from 9:00 am until 12:00 pm.

Fire Camp is designed to show young women, ages 16 to 19 years old, what a career in firefighting is like. The campers are issued a set of turnouts and run through exercise drills that demonstrate the skills needed at an emergency scene. Some of the skills that will be practiced include: forcible entry, vehicle extrication, fire attack hose line techniques, and many more. Classroom activities include: nutrition, interview skills, emergency medical services, and a tour of Portland Fire Station 2 (Parkrose).

There is no cost for the campers to attend the weekend camp and they will go home with a t-shirt, water bottle, and a bag with some donations from local businesses such as Title 9, Lu Lu Lemon, Evelyn's Bakery, and Costco. The metro area partners that contributed funding for the camp are PF&R Local 43, Portland Fire Chiefs Association, Clackamas Fire District #1, Gresham Fire, and many more fire agencies around the state that allow their female firefighters to come work as camp counselors.