Video: Apple Valley Fire Explorers Take Skills to Minnesota State Fair

The time standard for firefighters to put on their gear and breathing apparatus to respond to an emergency is two minutes, maximum.

On Sunday, student Austin Pickup managed to don his gear and equipment in 49 seconds flat.

Pickup is one of five participants this year in the ’s Fire Explorer Program, a national effort in which students ages 15 to 20 learn the aspects of and skills involved with being a firefighter.

The year will culminate with Friday’s Fire Explorer Challenge at Carousel Park at the Minnesota State Fair, where 23 Minnesota posts will show the skills they’ve learned in five events: search and rescue, ladder raise, gear donning, spinal immobilization and cardiac arrest management, said program organizer and Apple Valley Fire Capt. Matt Nelson.

“Search and rescue is way fun,” said Pickup, whose dad is an assistant fire chief with the city. It’s his second year as an explorer, and he said he’s looking to win this year’s state fair competition.

The largely hands-on, volunteer-led explorer program has been going on in Apple Valley for about 15 years, Nelson said.

For those who are interested in pursuing firefighting, “in essence it’s a very long job interview,” Nelson said; he and seven other Apple Valley firefighters started out as explorers.

Firefighting also runs in the family for student and three-year participant Alec Running, whose dad and grandpa were firefighters, he said.

“I’ve always just kind of had a passion for it,” Running said. “It’s something that stuck.”

First-year participant Eli Weinkauf, who attends Northwestern College, said he’s “loving every minute” of the program, so much so that he’ll move to Duluth to attend college for firefighting.

Nelson said it’s rewarding to see the explorers improve their skills over the year. Many started out taking up to five minutes to put on their gear, and now some can consistently make 54 seconds.

The program’s next year will start in mid-October, and Nelson encourages those interested in firefighting to check it out.

While the explorers highlighted many program activities that are challenging—like enduring the top of a shaky 75-foot ladder—and fun, Weinkauf said there’s one privilege that sticks out in particular: Riding in a fire truck.

“You just feel so boss,” he said.

Interested in becoming a fire explorer?

Contact Apple Valley Fire Capt. Matt Nelson for more information, at matt.nelson@applevalleyfire.org. Participants meet twice a month; they pay a small insurance fee, and $10 per year past the first year.