Ride of a lifetime: Firefighter for a day

In case you’re wondering about the adorable kid seen bobbing around Green Valley in a fire truck, Wednesday, that was 9-year-old “Captain Noah.”

Noah Spencer, of Tucson, spent the day hanging out with Green Valley firefighters, waking up at the crack of dawn to eat breakfast with the crew, then helping with morning drills before riding along on several emergency calls.

“My favorite part was riding in the fire truck,” said a grinning Noah, who got to sit in the captain’s seat. I wish there was a fire, though.”

Noah was invited out for the day by Captain Melissa Smith, the fire district’s public information officer. The two met last year at a Tucson summer camp sponsored by the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Southern Arizona, where Smith was a counselor.

In December, Smith and 26 others were “thrown in jail” at the MDA’s annual lockup event in Green Valley, which raised more than $23,000 for the organization — enough to send 35 local children to the special camp this summer.

The rambunctious fourth-grader says wheelchair soccer was his favorite activity at camp last year.

“Noah’s been through a lot, and he’s just an amazing kid,” said Smith.

“And he’s got quite the personality, too. All the guys at the station love him.”

Noah says his next favorite thing after fire trucks is helicopters.

“We’re working on it,” said Smith, smiling.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726