Fire Safety Camp, Suffolk VA

The Suffolk, VA Department of Fire and Rescue offers a Fire and Life Safety Camp every summer. It costs $50 and meets for 5 consecutive 1/2 days. There are 4 sessions offered. The description of this class bewitched me with words like responsibility, leadership, teamwork, and safety. The price is fantastic, and the station happens to be less than 3 miles from our house. Gabriel was delighted to hear that YES, they will get a chance to go on the Fire Truck.

Fire Camp turned out to be as good as we had hoped. The instructors were loving and honest, which is a necessary combination when trying to educate children about scary stuff. Without scaring them. The kids learned about water, road, and fire safety. They got a visit from a local K-9 unit, completed wood crafts, and had a relevant homework assignment: create a fire escape plan for the whole family and practice it. The staff also STRONGLY recommend doing night-time fire drills where children need to get out without adult help. This sounds like a good idea to me, and we're going to try that.

The kids also got an amazing collection of safety treats, including a great courier type bag, fanny pack, first aid kit, coloring books, whistle, and real working compass. The staff arranged a beautiful graduation ceremony and slide show, and sent us home will bellies full of cake. Oh! And there was lunch provided every day of camp. I cannot recommend this program highly enough, and neither can my stepdaughter, Devorah.

Fire and Life Safety Camp is made possible by the Jeff T. Messinger Memorial Fund. Jeff was a 26 year veteran of the Suffolk Department of Fire and Rescue. You can read more about Jeff on page seven of this PDF document. If you would like to donate, please make your check out to "Jeff T. Messinger Memorial Fund" and mail to:

Suffolk Department of Fire and Rescue
400 Market Street
Suffolk, VA 23434
ATTN: JTM Fund








Watch our graduation: