The Big Sky Sun
July 13, 2006
Junior Jumper - New Program Teaches Kids About Smokejumpers
By Brian Hurlbut
A new program in West Yellowstone is giving kids a jumpstart on fighting forest fires.
The Junior Smokejumper Program, part of the non-profit National Smokejumper Center (NSC), is an educational session designed to give kids an introduction to fire ecology and the life of a smokejumper, said Lyndsey Lalicker, a West-Yellowstone based smokejumper and Director of Youth Programs for the Center.
“Our goal is to educate kids about fire and show them options of fire fighting as a career,” said Lalicker, who is one of only 30 female smokejumpers in the country. “We want to give them someone to look up to and maybe a goal to strive for. ”
Lalicker and other smokejumpers from the Inter Agency
Fire Station at the West Yellowstone Airport
meet in the town’s City Park every Tuesday through Saturday and give
an hour-long, interactive talk for children ages 5-12. The program is free
and runs through August 31, and starts at 10:30 a.m.
At the session kids learn about the history of smokejumping, what it takes to be a smokejumper, and the good and bad of forest fires. A mannequin dressed in smokejumper gear gives kids an idea of what gear is required and Lalicker gives a mock fire demonstration with a ‘forest’ of matches. Everyone is given a booklet to fill out, and at the end of the session kids receive a Junior Smokejumper pin.
So far, interest from kids has been high, including 40 City Recreation kids who attended a weeklong session in June. That session included a fire camp setup and a tour of the base station and a smokejumper plane.
“The response has been great,” she said. West Yellowstone resident Brandy Loomis took her two kids to the program last week. Braden, 5, and Blake, 2, are now Junior Smokejumpers, and Loomis said she would recommend the educational session to everybody. “I learned a lot even as an adult,” she said.
The idea behind the Junior Smokejumpers is based on NASA’s Space Camps and the Forest Service’s Junior Ranger program. The goal is to help kids find out more about fire fighting careers they might not know even exist.
“The youth are our future,” said Jim Kitchen, Inter Agency Fire Station and Smokejumper Base Manger. “We hope to inspire kids early, and show them what we do and what the value of it is. ”
The program is also the first major public outreach for the NSC, a non-profit organization created in April of this year to become a liaison between the public and the smokejumping profession. Plans call for a separate facility in West Yellowstone that serves as part museum, part visitor center and part resource center, which would likely draw from the 3 million tourists who visit Yellowstone National Park each year.
“The smokejumper program is one those unsung
programs that more people should know about,” explained Kitchen. “We’re
building a connection that doesn’t exist now—that’s the
exciting part. ”
The center would compile archives for the tight-knit smokejumper community, offer tours to the public, present various films and programs, and possibility even offer demonstration jumps. The vision includes a model smokejumper base, training tower and airplanes, and the NSC hopes to bring together many veteran smokejumpers to “work” at the NSC as volunteers.
Kitchen said tours are not currently offered oat the West Yellowstone base, mainly because there is no staff or time to to show people around. This in one reason the NSC was created, to expose people to the somewhat reclusive world of smokejumpers. Another reason is to make sure the profession does not disappear, by explaining to both adults and the kids what being a smokejumper is all about.
“We realize that it is difficult to get people to work outdoors,” said
Kitchen, adding that most smokejumpers aren’t in it for the money. “We
get paid in sunsets and adrenaline fixes.