Scarborough High School student Taylor Burns, a rising junior, combined his interest in running with community service to organize and operate the “Run for Rescue” 5K road race.

Burns’s run was a benefit for the Scarborough Fire Department and fulfilled a community service requirement for his history class. By charging a $10 entrance fee for the race, along with a $5 entrance fee for a separate 1-mile fun run, he was able to raise $415 for the fire department. The department will use the money to purchase a thermal imaging camera, something it had been saving for.

The class had the option of either volunteering for 10-hours or writing a 10-page paper. Although some student elected to write the paper, Burns choose not to and instead began to think where he would like to volunteer.

Some of the class’s students were volunteering at a soup kitchen or at the Maine Veterans Home, but Burns wanted to do something different. He decided he wanted to help the Scarborough Fire Department because its members were out every day assisting the residents in town.

“It was something local and someone who is always out there helping us,” Burns said, adding that the money raised by his event would be used to help the town.

With the help of his parents and using his own knowledge of running, he chose to organize a 5K race to raise money for the department. Scarborough girls’ track Coach Ron Kelly, who regularly organizes track meets as part of his job, also assisted. Burns credits Kelly’s help in making the event successful.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” Burns said, adding that about 50 people turned out, which was their goal.

Burns had a lot of fun organizing the event and while it was a lot of work to get the entire event organized, everything went smoothly, with just one exception, the awards, which were delivered late.

“It was such a relief to get it over, I don’t know how (Kelly) does it every week,” Burns said.

Many people who ran during the event came up to Burns during and after the race to thank him for the work he had done and for assisting the fire department.

Burns is not sure if he will organize a similar event next year and said he will have to wait and see what happens.

Fire Chief Mike Thurlow said the department routinely receives donations from community members, but this is the first time a high school student has based his community service work with the fire department.

“I was amazed; for a young fellow who had never (organized a race) like this, it showed great maturity,” Thurlow said. “Overall he did a great job.”

Thurlow said the department’s goal is to have one thermal imaging camera for all six Scarborough fire stations. So far the department has four and is expecting to use Burns’s donation in the near future to help with the $10,000 purchase of another camera.

A thermal imaging camera detects a heat source. Its primary purpose is to find people in a burning a building. But a common secondary use is to search for signs of fire within walls and ceilings, which helps firefighters cause less damage when looking for fires, Thurlow said.

Taylor Burns