{"id":187687,"date":"2026-03-11T20:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T20:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/187687\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T20:18:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T20:18:22","slug":"youth-take-lead-at-hillsborough-summer-fire-academy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/187687\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth Take Lead At Hillsborough Summer Fire Academy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Many teenagers have\u202fimagined working as a first responder fighting fires, saving lives and being recognized as a community hero.\u202fAnd\u202fparents have\u202fdreamed of seeing their son or daughter in uniform,\u202fworking\u202fin a noble profession.\u202f <\/p>\n

Those dreams can come true through the\u202fHillsborough County Fire Rescue Foundation\u2019s 2026\u202fAlan D. Anderson\u202fSummer Youth Fire Academy, where students will learn all about the role of being a firefighter.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n

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Hillsborough County students ages 14-18 have until\u202fFriday, March 27, to apply for the two-week summer program. <\/p>\n

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue instructors will teach students hands-on lessons and\u202fdetail\u202fthe multiple roles that firefighters have in their jobs.\u202f <\/p>\n

The program curriculum includes fire ground operations, use of firefighting bunker gear, aerial ladder climbs, search and rescue, forcible entry, rappelling and knots, water safety, CPR, first aid and the history of the fire service. <\/p>\n

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Applicants must be high school students or\u202fgraduating\u202fseniors between the ages of 14 and 18. A panel will review applications and make final selections based on class size.\u202f <\/p>\n

The 2026\u202facademy will be available from Monday,\u202fJune 8, to Friday,\u202fJune 19. A mandatory orientation will be held on Saturday, May 23.\u202f<\/p>\n

The academy is a free program, courtesy of the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Foundation.\u202fLunch, snacks, water and sports drinks are provided each day, in addition to\u202funiform shirts, pants, boots,\u202fa\u202fbelt and a hat. Transportation is not provided. <\/p>\n

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Applicants must submit their applications by 5 p.m. on March 27.\u202fAlong with the application, students must\u202fsubmit\u202fa personal essay and include two letters of recommendation.\u202fOnly virtual applications are accepted.\u202f <\/p>\n

Learn more and apply\u202fvirtually\u202fby\u202fvisiting\u202fwww.hcfl.gov\/syfa<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many teenagers have\u202fimagined working as a first responder fighting fires, saving lives and being recognized as a community…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-187687","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-tampa","9":"tag-tampa-headlines","10":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}