AT THE ACADEMY, George Cammack of Ripton becomes more familiar with his full fire gear and self-contained breathing apparatus. The 14-year-old feels proud and strong to have performed a few training missions wearing the full outfit, which can weigh up to 75 pounds.
Photo courtesy of George Cammack

RIPTON — For 14-year-old George Cammack attending the 2024 Fire Cadet Academy hosted in Pittsford by the Vermont State Firefighter’ Association was one of the few times he set foot outside of his Ripton home this summer.

In many aspects, Cammack is just like any other teenager who has his heart set on making firefighting his career: He enjoys sports like cross-country and tennis, and he rides his bike to volunteer and attend training at the local fire department.

As the eldest of five children, Cammack is proud of his dream to become a firefighter.

“It’s one of the few things that only I do in the family,” he said.

But there’s a catch. He has one more hurdle on the way to achieving his dream. It’s his health.

Four children out of five in the family, including George, endure a rare form of diabetes called MODY, or Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young, which is a monogenetic form of diabetes that only 1% of diabetics in the world experiences, according to Cammack’s mother, Jaime, who has type-1 diabetes herself.

“Fortunately, there hasn’t been anything noticeable from that for me,” said George.

“Ever since the pandemic, we’ve bubbled and been a stay-at-home family, home-schooling and everything, which adds to the craziness of having five (children at home),” George explained light-heartedly.

So there are good reasons for the family to be cautious, of course, since the hope is to minimize illnesses. In 2013, the third child, Francis, who was two weeks old at the time, was seriously sick from what had seemed to be just a cold. But a quick-thinking EMT and smart doctors saved his life.

“We’ve been very cautious with COVID because we’ve had a lot of medical complications,” Jaime said. “The fire department and the EMS have shown up for us a whole bunch of times, and that’s been really important for our family having that resource.”

George’s sense of responsibility and awareness was ingrained at a young age. There had been a number of times when Jaime needed assistance, and George would take the role of caring for his siblings. The family also trained him early to know emergency response like dialing 911. He joked about accidentally making a 911 call when he was six.

THE CAMMACK FAMILY celebrates George’s graduation from the Fire Cadet Academy in mid-July. Pictured, from left, are (front row) Corbin, Francis, Adelaide, George and Genevieve Cammack; and (back row) George’s mother Jaime, father Chris and grandmother Janetha.
Photo courtesy of George Cammack

Ever since moving to Vermont from Virginia in 2018, the Cammacks were shown kindness by the local fire department, whose members helped them rewire their entire house and also saved them from a downed wire fire in snowy weather.

“We spent the rest of the day watching videos,” George said. “About what to do when you see a live wire,” Jaime added.

The family has become more cautious, whether it’s about wearing masks to protect their health or having fire extinguishers or fire blankets around the house.

They’ve recognized the necessity of acquiring fire safety skills, given the small community they live in often sees a shortage in emergency response staff.

“It’s kind of a big deal that there are only so many first responders in general,” Jaime said. “We’ve been talking a lot about the proposed changes to the safety standards that OSHA’s been working on, and that’s quite scary thinking about … if there’s going to be minimums of how many old trucks can (there) be, or what equipment each station is using,” Jaime said.

George, feeling a strong sense of responsibility for his community, is now determined to pursue a career in the fire department since that’s who has been there for his family.

“Both his dad and I are trying to step back and let him pursue what he wants to pursue,” Jaime said. “It’s somewhat ironic that he’s going into a profession that’s dangerous, but if we hadn’t had that kind of support previously, we probably wouldn’t be OK with the idea of him running into burning buildings.”

As a kid, George was influenced by his father, Chris, who served in the military. George had also wanted to live in Europe and become a LEGO designer at one point. But ever since he started volunteering with the Ripton Fire Department last year, his interest has greatly shifted and anchored in fire rescue.

“It’s something new for me,” he said.

George bikes four miles up and down the hill to go to the fire department every Tuesday. The demanding ride isn’t a barrier for him at all though. With the department, he got training in wearing protective fire gear and helped with a few traffic control jobs.

“He’s more willing to help in the fire department than at home,” Jaime teased.

GEORGE CAMMACK DEMONSTRATES TO his little brother Corbin how to use the water nozzle on a fire hose. Cammack firmly believes that despite his health conditions, he will one day carry a deluge gun and help people in need.
Photo courtesy of George Cammack

LEARNING ABOUT FIRE

This year’s training at the Fire Cadet Academy taught George a lot. He especially enjoyed the course about hazardous materials, in which he learned more about sources of danger in a fire scene other than the flames themselves. The fact that burnt material and even the fire gear itself could cause cancer is new and informative to him.

“Firefighters don’t just respond to house fires and kittens in trees. They respond to almost everything that’s not a crime scene,” George said.

What he learned from the academy, he enthusiastically shared with the family. Jaime feels glad that they are now able to consider the career from a new perspective.

“I don’t think many people think about how dangerous firefighting is from a health standpoint. Usually it’s ‘Are you going to make it out of the burning building.’ Well, once you make it out of the burning building, how many cancer agents have you been exposed to, and how serious is that going to be in the long term,” she said.

In classes, George said they were trained to identify types of material in trucks by looking at their plate. They also learned the necessary skills to react to emergencies involving truck accidents and spillage.

“I never really thought about that being part of firefighting. But HazMat teams don’t really get there until 45 minutes or a couple of hours after the incident first happens, and so firefighters are the first people who get there and do the most,” George said.

His physical strength has also improved in the course of training, especially with wearing the turn-out gear and the self-contained breathing apparatus, which he hasn’t worn more than twice volunteering in the fire department prior to attending the academy.

“Everything is just heavy,” he said.

Having visited various professional fire departments in cities like Burlington and Rutland through the academy’s program, George is seriously considering his next steps in making firefighting his career.

“I can definitely see myself using the deluge gun,” he said proudly.

Jaime expresses her worry as a mother, watching her child grow up pursue his dreams.

“On the one hand that’s fantastic because that means he doesn’t have to move to Europe, on the other hand that’s terrifying because he wants to be a professional firefighter,” she said.

“A professional running into a burning building person,” George added with a smile.