On a hot summer day last week, the Woodburn Fire District opened the main fire station to the Woodburn School District’s Summer School Camp.
During the event, 125 students and staff from the summer camp program rotated between fire themed activities that included fire engine and station tours, a relay race in firefighter protective gear and rides in the district’s antique fire engine. The students also had a chance to cool down while spraying water from a fire hose at a mock building and enjoyed snow cones sponsored by Woodburn’s Young Life team while getting their picture taken with firefighters. Fire district career and volunteer firefighters along with volunteers from Woodburn CERT and the Four Square Church all worked to make a fun and memorable experience for the summer camp kids.
“Community activities like this provide a great opportunity for our young residents to have fun interacting with firefighters while learning about fire service careers” Commented Fire Chief Joe Budge. “Many of our current firefighters were first exposed to the fire service at a young age through events like this. It is our hope that sparks of interest have been lit that will encourage kids in our community to consider becoming a volunteer or pursue a career as a firefighter.”
Assistant After School Coordinator Ayanna Zamora added, “We wanted to expose our students to opportunities for future careers and appreciate the Woodburn Fire District for showing our students a possible career path through our field trip last week. My team had a vision for this field trip during safety week and our partnership with the fire district, Pastor Luis Molina, Woodburn Young Life, and the Woodburn CERT team made that happen. During our trip, many of our students expressed excitement over becoming firefighters in the future. We are excited to collaborate with more community organizations and introduce students to potential future careers.”
The fire district’s next community outreach event will be the Annual Open House and Safety Fair which will be held on Saturday, October 7th from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. This event is open to all and provides a variety of activities for children and adults to enjoy at the fire station while learning how to make the community a safer place to live and work.