NSFD Explorer Post 243

The North Syracuse Fire Department is proud to support a program to help expose young adults to the many opportunities offered in the fire service by establishing, supporting, and continuously developing a Fire Explorer Post and Program. This program replaced a Junior Firefighter program that was first created over 15 years ago.

The program is open to local students (ages 14-18) and teaches participants (Explorers) about the duties of a firefighter and about fire house life.  The program is designed to build character, a sense of responsibility and leadership skills through both lecture and hands practice in modern firefighting techniques.  It is the hope of the North Syracuse Fire Department that our Explorers will carry these skills with them well into their futures and that one day they might consider joining the ranks of the fire department after their 18th birthday and graduation of high school.

The program holds its business meeting on the first Thursday of every month at North Syracuse Fire Station 1 at 7:00 pm. Drills are held twice a month and are posted on a monthly basis. Drills are one additional Thursday night and one Saturday morning each month.  Drills and Meetings are facilitated by NSFD Officers and Firefighters who volunteer their time as post advisors in addition to their normal responsibilities and duties.  Explorers are issued the same turnout gear as firefighters to use during training and are expected to properly maintain it.  During drills Explorers use the NSFD’s equipment, vehicles, and facilities to learn modern firefighting techniques in controlled and supervised exercises.

Explorers are also encouraged to come to the fire station during alarms where, under very strict supervision and permission by incident command, they will be escorted to the scene by an advisor or fire department officer to help firefighters with non-critical roles such as clean-up, equipment maintenance etc. These incidents are used as real life experience and educational opportunities.

In addition to regularly scheduled drills Explorers are encouraged to participate in Parades, Special Events and other Fire Department Functions.  Our explorers participate in firematic competitions with other local posts and junior firefighter programs at the New York Air National Guard base in East Syracuse. They plan events for fund raising, put on demonstrations at the NSFD annual fire safety day and help firefighters with day to day responsibilities around the station. As you can tell Post 243 is very active.

Anyone wanting information about the program should contact the program's Lead Officer Advisor at (315) 458-1920.

Officer Advisors

LT. Norm Gauthier Jr. (Lead Advisor)
LT. Joe Asztalos

Advisors

F/F-EMT Gary Wilmer

F/F-EMT Fred German

F/F-Paramedic Mike Bridenbaker

Explorer Post 243 Photo Gallery