Washing a fire truck, putting out blazes and rescuing people. Those are just some of the tasks Indianapolis Fire Department firefighters do each day.
It’s also what more than 100 kids did at the department’s free Brian Sanford Firefighter for a Day Camp.
The camp was held June 10-12 at the Warren Township Government Center. Firefighters from around Indianapolis came to the camp to interact with the kids and run activities based on real tasks. The goal was to teach kids about fire safety.
“If they’re concerned with it as children, they’ll be concerned with it as teenagers and as adults and hopefully it’ll spread throughout their family,” said Corey Floyd, the division chief of fire, life and safety at the Indianapolis Fire Department.
Toni Martin brought her grandchildren, Grace and Ky. She said she wanted them to have fun while learning about firefighters.
“It’s summertime and it is just giving us something to do instead of sitting at home and not doing anything,” Martin said.
Grace, 10, said she enjoyed the different activities.
“We did an exercise where we had to run over and set out the fire with the fire hoses,” she said. “It was very heavy.”
But her favorite was using the hose and long brooms to wash the firetruck.
Another activity is called “save the baby.” Campers were taught how to safely escape a fire and how firefighters rescue people. The kids then pretended to rescue a baby from a smoky building.
Wyatt Alison, 10, said this was his favorite activity — even if the smoke made it hard to see.
“We went upstairs and felt the wall to find the baby,” Wyatt said. “I just like finding people and helping them be safe.”
Jaron Lile said he already knows a lot about fire safety because his dad is a firefighter. This year, the 12-year-old served as a counselor at the camp so he can teach other kids what to do in case of a fire.
“You never know what’s going to happen,” Jaron said. “Everything can be fine and then boom, out of nowhere, everything is on fire. It’s good for kids to know what to do.”
Chief Floyd said the camp, which is in its 23rd year, is inspiring for many kids.
“It’s inspiring them to be good community people and to look out for one another,” Floyd said. “And hopefully we get our next future firefighters out of it as well.”
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Mirror Indy reporter Darian Benson covers east Indianapolis. Contact her at 317-397-7262 or darian.benson@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @HelloImDarian or on Bluesky @darianbenson.bsky.social.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
