Nearly 90 Kids Trade Summer Couch Time for Fire Academy Boot Camp

Forget lazy summer days binge-watching TikTok. Nearly 90 middle schoolers in the greater Sacramento area are spending this week getting a real taste of what it means to run into burning buildings—or at least what it takes to prepare for that possibility.

The Roseville Fire Training Center is hosting its week-long fire camp, and these kids aren’t just sitting in a classroom watching PowerPoints. They’re doing the actual work: ladder climbs, burn room entries, rappelling down structures, and the kind of grueling PT regimen that separates serious firefighters from everyone else. It’s as close to a mini fire academy as kids their age can get without actually joining the department.

What makes this experience special isn’t just the adrenaline rush—though according to 12-year-old camper Juniper Hall, rappelling is definitely a highlight. It’s the structure and mentorship. Camp director James Kornweibel has been running this program for almost 30 years, and he’s clear about what matters: teamwork, camaraderie, and pushing yourself beyond what you think you’re capable of. The camp is almost evenly split between boys and girls, and they’re all experiencing the same physical and mental challenges that first responders face on the job every single day.

Each camper gets to choose which skills they want to focus on—climbing, water rescue, endurance training—giving them a real sense of what different roles in the fire service actually entail. By Thursday, the kids head to Folsom Lake to learn emergency response on the water, expanding their knowledge into a completely different operational environment.

This isn’t some feel-good camp where everyone gets a participation trophy. It’s rigorous, it’s real, and it’s deliberately designed to show young people what firefighting demands. If nothing else, these kids will finish the week with a profound respect for the men and women who do this work year-round—and some of them might just find their calling.