National Fire Plan Success Story
Hot Shots in Training, A Summer Camp Success
Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
National Fire Plan - Accountability
2010
Campers Cassie Gray and Reagan Taylor compete to build a fire.
Kaylee Payne reads a sling psychrometer.
Joshua Doyle tries on a fire pack during Fire Field Day.
Could a 12 year-old be a Hot Shot? It was a reality at Mammoth Cave National Park’s (MACA) first Hot Shots camp. For one week in July, ten young minds from Kentucky’s Barren County Middle School (BCMS) got intensive “training” in the exciting and complex nature of fire and firefighting at a summer camp aptly named “Hot Shots.”
nvironmental Education Rangers Sarah Talley and Jennifer Shackelford developed the Hot Shots camp in hopes of fostering a greater understanding of why and how fire is used to manage the parklands. “We thought it would be an exciting topic - what middle schooler wouldn’t want to learn about fire?” said Talley.
“Thanks to the Hot Shots camp, these ten campers had a chance to experience a wildland firefighter’s job and learn about the role fire plays in the National Park Service,” said Patrick H. Reed, Mammoth Cave Superintendent.
The students took part in a wide variety of activities throughout the week. The campers performed scientific experiments with the fire triangle, visited a prescribed burn site, competed in fire-building, and role-played a fire history game. The students eventually took on the role of firefighter trainee by learning basic firefighting terminology, firefighter safety, and fire behavior concepts like weather, topography, and fuels.
“The highlight of the camp for most of the students was the Fire Field Day during the last day of camp,” said Shackelford. Throughout the day, the Hot Shots campers each completed a firefighting task book designed especially for the camp. They demonstrated skills such as using hand tools, belt weather kits, and fire shelters. Parents and family members of the Hot Shots campers were invited to participate in these activities along with the students.
Mammoth Cave’s Fire Management Officer, Rich Caldwell, and other park firefighters assisted Talley and Shackelford in the Fire Field Day. Shackelford noted, “It was thanks to these guys that the day was such a big success.” Members of the MACA fire crew demonstrated the use of a number of different fire tools, schooled them on the functions of the wildland fire engine, and assisted with the modified pack test.
Talley and Shackelford received positive feedback from the students. An eager Seth Chapman told them, “I’m definitely going to be a firefighter when I grow up!” Gary Gardner, BCMS employee and chaperone, was impressed with all that the students learned. “No matter what you asked, there was someone who knew the answer. It seemed like they were all saying ‘Hey, let me show you what I know!’”
The Hot Shots camp was one of three different camps developed and facilitated by Rangers Talley and Shackelford through a partnership between the Environmental Education Office at Mammoth Cave and BCMS. The school is a recipient of a 21st Century Learning Center Grant, which paid all student expenses. The Mammoth Cave Environmental Education Office and BCMS also offered two other summer camps through this grant: “Water Wonders,” dealing with the importance of water in the park and “Explorers,” which focused on cave exploration and backcountry orienteering.
Contact: Cheryl Messenger, Education Specialist, (270) 758-2441.