Crowded in the shade of the fire department’s training tower, six teenage girls crouched on the ground, concentrating on how to rescue their pretend victims.  Weighed down with 40 pounds of bunker gear — fire-proof gloves, jackets, trousers and helmets — the girls struggled to lift each victim and carry her to safety.  

Then one carrier let go of a leg, the girls’ concentration broke, and they all burst into fits of giggles.

They are teenagers after all, and that’s what Rachael Staebell thinks is so great. Staebell is vice president of Summer Heat, the weeklong fire training camp for young females that had the girls happily huffing through the rescue training on Tuesday. There are 22 participants this year, ranging from 14 to 18 years old.

“We don’t ever say ‘this is going to be hard,’ we just let them do it,” said Staebell, who is a firefighter with the Colorado Springs Fire Department.  “Because they’re young, they just go out and do it and surprise themselves.”

Summer Heat is held at the Colorado Springs Fire Department headquarters, 375 Printers Parkway. Along with training about rescue methods and oxygen tanks, Tuesday’s schedule included tutorials about knot tying and use of fire fighting tools, as well as a drill where the girls had to feel their way through a room blindfolded.    

In the camp’s remaining three days, the participants will crawl through a smoke-filled building to find dummies, put out propane-tank fires, climb up the 109-foot ladder of a fire engine and chop through an old car with the Jaws of Life.    

The camp puts the girls through many of the activities that real firefighters do at the department’s training academy, Staebell said.  Most of the instructors are women from the fire department.   

In the long run, the camp aims to do more than whip the girls into firefighting shape.   

“This is really a leadership camp where we use fire as a medium,” Staebell said. “I hope they walk away with the confidence that they can do anything.”

Summer Heat president Mindie Comer reiterated the camp’s goal to the girls during lunch.

“It’s hard as a female in the fire department because there are some people on the job who still consider this a boys club,” she said. “We want females in the community to go beyond limits they’ve never gone beyond.”

Two days into the camp, the girls were already grasping the message and looking at firefighting with new eyes.

“I didn’t even think about firefighting until now,” said 14-year-old Kirsten Pesavento.

“Yeah, it’s definitely a viable career option for me now,” added 16-year-old Alexa Jakusovszky.

As they sat down to lunch, another table of girls laughed about their morning training experiences and commiserated over the clunky gear they had to wear during the rescue activities.  

But when asked whether they would recommend the camp to other girls next summer, the gear wasn’t an issue that crossed their minds.  

“Do it,” they all said, in unison.  

—Contact the writer at 636-0187.

DETAILS

Summer Heat is free although a $20 donation is requested.For details and to apply for next year’s camp visit the fire department’s webpage here.

Bethany Anderson, left, gives Elaine Whitcomb, 15, a thumbs up as she gears up during Summer Heat at the Colorado Springs Fire Department complex Tuesday. Photo by BRYAN OLLER, THE GAZETTE

Colorado Springs Fire Department Lt. J.J. Halsey, left, talks to participants of Summer Heat about firefighting tools, including this pick head axe, and how to be safe and efficient. The girls camp is being held this week in Colorado Springs. Photo by BRYAN OLLER, THE GAZETTE

Millie Harrison, left, Alexa Jakusovszky, Missy Uveges and Kim Wisham have a fun moment after completing a search and rescue drill during Summer Heat 2010 at the Fire Department Complex at 375 Printers Parkway on Tuesday. Photo by BRYAN OLLER, THE GAZETTE