Junior firefighting is a youth activity mostly organized by fire departments. It serves as a means of personal development for the youths, as well as a recruiting pool for the fire departments.
Junior firefighter programs give young people the chance to learn about local fire, rescue, and emergency medical services response organizations in a safe, controlled, educational, and fun way while providing departments with an excellent recruitment mechanism. Reaching out to people when they are young has long-range effects, and encouraging youth to take part in the emergency services is extremely beneficial to local communities and departments. Benefits of junior firefighter programs include:
Training activities allow the teenagers to gain firefighting and emergency service experience. Typical activities practicing firefighting techniques, communication using radios, practicing first aid, maintaining firefighting gear, firefighting drills, and responding to emergency calls.
In the United Kingdom, it is organized through the YFA - Young Firefighter Association.
In Germany, Jugendfeuerwehr in Austria Feuerwehrjugend is for youths from 10 to 18 years. In most German states, they are not allowed to take part in real emergencies until their 16th or 18th birthday, when they may join the regular fire department.
In Australia, state based volunteer bush firefighting organizations run cadet programs.
The French fire service also features a youth program.
In United States, the Fire Service Exploring is a program offered by Learning for Life, a branch of the Boy Scouts of America. The National Volunteer Fire Council offers the National Junior Firefighter Program, a national umbrella program for all youth firefighting programs, including Explorers, cadets, and junior firefighters.
In the Netherlands, the Jeugdbrandweer is for the youth from 12 to 18 years. After that you can join the real Brandweer, or in english Fire Brigade. Many fire stations in the netherlands have their own junior firefighter section. They are playing matches en tournaments against other junior firefighter sections from other fire stations. It's a tradition to camp with the junior firefighter sections in the summer. This happens with other junior firefighter sections, and even with junior firefighter sections from different countries.