Hot stuff at Nassau fire camp

Seventeen-year-old Nick Montoni will major in fire science at Nassau Community College in Garden City this fall. The East Meadow resident said he hoped to become a New York City firefighter one day. That’s why he enrolled this summer at Camp Fahrenheit 516, at the Nassau Fire Service Academy in Old Bethpage. 

Curious about firefighting, Montoni joined the East Meadow Fire Department juniors at 14, eager to learn how to put out fires and save people’s lives. A friend told him about the “cool” experience he could have at Camp Fahrenheit 516, and he said he learned a great deal there recently, including which fire extinguishers to use on different types of fires.

Twenty-eight teens, ages 14 to 17, took part in the five-day camp July 26-30, a scaled-down version of the more intense two-week camp for probationary firefighters, which is also run by Nassau County fire instructors.

“I learned how to put the gear on properly, which was heavy, and how to put the ladder up properly,” said Montoni, a brand new East Meadow High School graduate. “I climbed up a ladder that was the highest I ever climbed — 22 feet — and then went through a window for the first time.”

The camp is 40 percent classroom and 60 percent hands-on training. Participants perform drills on the last two days, including putting out a warehouse fire.

“It was hot,” Montoni said of the warehouse fire. “And once you put the water on [the fire], you could see fire over your head. It’s hard to see in there because it’s very dark.”

“The camp gives them the closest thing they will experience of being an actual probee firefighter, something no other junior organization has in the entire country,” said Jerry Presta, of East Norwich, chairman of the Nassau County Junior Firefighters Association. “When they go into these buildings to put a fire out, there is no propane switch to turn off. This is the real deal here.”

Presta said no one has ever been hurt at the fire camp. That’s because, he said, participants are well prepared by the end of the camp to perform the drills.

“This is a great recruiting tool,” said Robert Hughes, the chief fire instructor and a former East Meadow Fire Department chief. “The camp teaches the kids responsibility, safety and leadership, and they get other kids to join. A large majority who go to this camp go on to join the volunteer fire department, either as a firefighter or an [EMT].”

And for some juniors, it’s a wake-up call.

“We’ve had kids go to fire camp and decide this isn’t for them,” Presta said. “They can’t believe how hot it is, how close they are to the flames. I had one girl end up going to EMT school and then paramedic school. She probably would have dropped out of probee school and pushed the entire idea of the Fire Department away had she not gone to the camp.”

Omek Kumar joined the East Norwich Fire Department juniors when he was 13. Now, at 15, he is the treasurer. The type of person who enjoys learning new things, Omek said being a junior satisfies his curiosity. 

What surprised the Oyster Bay resident most at fire camp was how calm everyone was when they were in the burning building. “I learned how to work as a team when fighting a fire and how to stay together,” said Kumar, who plans to become an emergency medical technician and then attend nursing school. “This showed me how being in a real fire would feel.”

Montoni said fire camp brought him one step closer to becoming a firefighter. “I’ve always loved the idea of saving lives,” he said. “People aren’t mad at firefighters. They are relieved to see them. In a sense, I get to be a hero.”