Local youths from across Halton got hands-on experience in firefighting at Oakville's Blaze Fire Academy.
Two dozen teens aged 15 to 18 have converged on the Oakville Fire Department’s training campus, with instructors and volunteers from the Halton Hills, Milton, Burlington and Oakville departments taking part.
The two-day fire training camp offers first-hand experience in communications/fire dispatch, firefighter survival, hazardous materials, search and rescue, auto extrication, and fire prevention and education.
The teens are divided into crews and rotate through each training session, which culminated with a graduation ceremony.
This is the first time in the history of the program that it was open to all genders, with the next and final camp this summer geared to young women aged 15 to 18.