Camp Fahrenheit 516 trains junior firefighters in hopes they'll volunteer at a Long Island firehouse

Andrew Cousins, 14, wants to be a firefighter when he is older. He grew up around the firehouse, and his dad, grandfather and some of his cousins were volunteer firefighters.

But the number of volunteer firefighters on Long Island is shrinking. To combat this decline, the Firefighters Association of the State of New York has sponsored Camp Fahrenheit 516 for junior firefighters since 2015.

The weeklong program is for boys and girls, ages 14 to 18, thinking about pursuing careers as firefighters.

Cousins, a junior firefighter, said he had made some great friends during the camp. He has learned how to safely put out vehicle fires and how to use firefighting tools.

"The most important thing I’ve learned is teamwork makes the dream work, because you can’t put out a fire [by] yourself," Cousins said.

New York State used to have more than 100,000 volunteer firefighters, according to Michael Krummenacker, FASNY director. That number is now down to around 80,000, he said.

Over 90% of New York’s fire departments are made up of volunteers, according to data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"Community service is very important and vital ..." Krummenacker, 75, of Hicksville, said of volunteer firefighting. "And there's nothing more rewarding that you can give your time and efforts to your fellow neighbors at no cost."

To mark the camp's 10th anniversary and ensure Camp Fahrenheit 516 continues to train junior firefighters, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman presented a $100,000 check to the program at an event Thursday at the Nassau County Fire Service Academy in Old Bethpage.

"What could be more rewarding than protecting your community and your county?" Blakeman said. "And we want to thank our firefighters, and we want to commend our junior firefighters for stepping up to the plate, and we will make them the best firefighters in America."

Although there are many summer camps on Long Island, Jerry Presta, 61, said there are none like Camp Fahrenheit 516. Presta, of East Norwich, is a volunteer firefighter and the chairman of the Nassau County Junior Firefighters Association.

"This past June, we gave out [junior firefighter] honor cords to kids at their [high school] graduation. We gave out 200, just in Nassau County ..." Presta said. "So that's 200 kids that we’re hopefully going to get into the fire service."

The camp runs Monday to Friday during the last week of July, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Presta said the program is free, funded by donations like the one from the county.

This year's program has 68 campers, Presta said, including an extra "squad," or group, with two campers from Pennsylvania and 13 from Germany. German campers, who began attending the camp in 2018, couldn't come to the summer sessions from 2020 to 2022, Presta said, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. 

Meike Ahmann, 17, of Germany, said she wanted to be a part of the camp to see what the United States was like.

"They're all so nice and lovely," Ahmann said about the other campers, most from Long Island. She added some campers had asked to visit her in Germany, which made her feel welcome.

Rachel Schriefer, 15, of Elmont, said her experience as a junior firefighter had been positive. She rated her overall experience a 9 out of 10.

Schriefer said she planned on going to Germany next year as part of the camp's exchange program. The most important skill she has learned, she said, is communicating with her peers during an emergency situation.

"I feel like the talking to everybody and getting to meet everyone is my favorite part, definitely," she said.