Lingle, Fort Laramie and Yoder Fire Departments celebrate last day of school with Lingle-Fort Laramie students

By Logan Dailey

LINGLE – May 23, 2024 marked the final day of the 2023-2024 school year for Lingle-Fort Laramie schools. To celebrate a select group of students, members of the Lingle, Fort Laramie and Yoder Fire Departments took students to school in fire trucks or an ambulance.

The annual event culminates each school year and offers a chance for members of the departments to make lasting relationships with the students.

“It started in Torrington,” Tabitha Lambert, a firefighter and EMT with the Lingle Volunteer Fire Department said. “We would do reading events with the kids. It was previously called ‘blazing a trail to reading’ and would culminate with the rides to school. It offers us a chance to get to know these kids and build relationships, and I have seen first-hand where it helps during a call with these kids; they know us and they are calmer in the face of a critical incident.”

Prior to arriving at school, the students were paraded throughout Lingle. The students were then transported to the school to begin their last school day. 

“Recognizing our school children through their academic achievements, even if for a short morning providing them rides to school in the fire and EMS equipment, is not only fun for them but also for the firefighters and EMTs,” Art Lowther, a firefighter and EMT with the Lingle Volunteer Fire Department said. “It is a long-standing tradition that should be standardized across every fire service in the county. It provides a bridge to the younger generations to get to know the fire and EMS personnel in the area. It lets the Fire and EMS personnel recognize and celebrate some truly exemplary hard work by the children and might just spark the child’s desire to volunteer in their community in the future as well.”