Each day of Camp HERO begins with live demonstrations that tie in to the day’s rotations.
Wednesday, Day 2 of Camp HERO (Honor, Excellence, Respect, Opportunity), was Firefighters Day and kids got to watch first responders handle a mock crash and a dive demonstration, separated by some friendly tug-of-war.

    Kosciusko County Sheriff Jim Smith (L) and Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Chief Joel Shilling (R) slide down the soapy Slip-N-Slide Wednesday during Camp HERO. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

The mock crash began with a 911 dispatcher notifying the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory of the “crash scene” at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds.
“Warsaw Fire Station 13, come in service. Have a 10-50 PI rollover with ejection at the fairgrounds, 1400 East Smith Street,” the campers heard the dispatcher say.
Rescue 13 then let the dispatcher know they were en route. The fire trucks and Lutheran EMS - with their sirens blaring - rolled onto the scene to extricate any crash victims and tend to their medical needs.
Nathan Rhoades, Pierceton Fire Department, narrated the action for the kids as they sat and watched from the bleachers.
After the tug-of-war, campers headed down to the lake for the diving demonstration.

    Warsaw Police Department Sgt. Chris Francis (R) helps the Camp HERO Red Team in a game of tug-of-war against the counselors Wednesday. The Red Team beat the other seven camper teams, but were no match for the counselors, even with help from Francis. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

Shane Bucher, dive commander for the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department, explained that for the dive presentation the countywide team consisted of the WWFT, Warsaw Police Department and the KCSD, with help from conservation officers from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
“With this scenario ... we’re going to actually show a suspect who has some stolen property. He’s going to throw it in the water. The DNR is going to have an interaction with that person. He’s going to apprehend that suspect, and then the dive team will recover that stolen property,” Bucher said.
Mason Metzinger, Warsaw Police Department officer, operated a drone to help in the search for the stolen property.
Besides doing recovery for human life, Bucher said the countywide dive team does a lot of searches for criminal investigations, as well as vehicle recoveries, such as if a four-wheeler goes through the ice in the winter.
“We average probably, throughout the different kinds of elements, about 15 to 20 calls a year,” Bucher said.
A member of the dive team has to go through a lot of training and be certified, but can continue with additional training for more certifications. The countywide dive team requires a minimum of four hours a month of additional training for different scenarios and recoveries.

    Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory demonstrated their skills to Camp HERO kids during a mock crash at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds Wednesday. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

KCSD Public Information Officer Sgt. Doug Light said the campers would get into their fire rotations Wednesday afternoon.
“The kids will actually get a closer look. We’ve got three additional cars parked over here that the firemen will use their tools to cut up and do different things, but the kids will get a lot closer look at those,” he said. “And then just other fire safety stuff along the way. They’ll rotate through those different stations.”
For the kids - and probably the adults, too - a highlight of the day was the big water fight.

    Kosciusko County Sheriff Jim Smith didn’t stay dry for very long after getting in the dunk tank Wednesday at Camp HERO. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

“We have some new things, a couple other water slides, and we do our big camp counselor slideoff on our big Slip-N-Slide, and it’s just kind of a fun day,” Light said.
Kosciusko County Sheriff Jim Smith and WWFT Fire Chief Joel Shilling both slid down the slippery slide, with Smith also sitting in the dunk tank for a bit.
With the weather around 90 degrees and sunny, Light said it was a perfect day for the campers and counselors to get wet.
He said they appreciated all the fire departments coming out for Camp HERO - Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory, Tippecanoe and Turkey Creek township fire departments, Milford Fire and others. He didn’t want to leave anyone out, but there were a lot of fire trucks at the fairgrounds.

    Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory firefighters demonstrate their skills during a mock crash Wednesday at Camp HERO. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

Thursday’s demonstrations will be provided by SWAT and the Indiana State Police bomb squad. “I’m sure they’ll probably set off some charges and blow some things up,” Light said.
They’ll then go back into the rotations they did on Tuesday as the campers only got to go through half of them.
Friday will conclude with graduation, a “huge” Touch-A-Truck event and a meal provided by the sheriff.
Tuesday was EMS Day and the demonstrations then were provided by Kosciusko REMC and Lutheran Air, as well as a demonstration of the K9s.
“We just can’t say thank-you enough. There’s so much that goes into camp and so much planning. So much organization and logistics, and we just can’t say thanks enough. Again, this goes back to our great community and everybody that’s willing to help us put this together,” Light said.
At the end of Camp HERO 2024, there will be a debriefing where everyone involved will sit down and talk about the good and bad. “There’s always way more good,” Light said.
They’ll look at what can they change, fix, adjust, add and what did the kids enjoy the most.
Then about in April 2025, they’ll start meeting again to plan for Camp HERO 2025. Light said it’s usually about the first of June when camp registration will open up.