Heartland Fire hosts second annual East County Fire Explorer Academy

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Throughout our area, law enforcement and firefighting agencies have Explorer programs through the Boy Scouts.

Monday morning, we watched a fire training academy that involves three such programs in the East County: Heartland Fire, San Miguel Fire and the Viejas Fire Department.

This was the third day of three days days of more intensive training than the young people are going to experience in their bi-monthly meetings. That includes live fire training.

As Explorer Advisor Dean Sergent explained, “They’re here to go through basic fire training, this what it’s like to be a firefighter. This exposes them to the basics of what we get to do.”

Some of the young people are high school students, others in college. A few are EMTs training to be firefighters.

Say you are a young high school student and after three days of this, you’re still on the fence about a career. But think about what this means to your maturity and you becoming a responsible adult.