Citizen's Academy-Week 2

This past Tuesday we had week 2 of our Citizen's Academy. This week, we're spending time with the Fire Department.

After a hectic week since the last class, during which I was supposed to have gone and got fitted for some bunker gear but didn't, and a hectic day yesterday I showed up early to class to get my gear. I managed to scrounge some up and for the most part, it fits...well enough anyway.

Our group was split into 3 different groups tonight. We participated in 3 different activities: hoses, search & rescue, and ladders. I went through search & rescue first. We donned our gear and learned how to use the SCBA as well as how to conduct fire attack and search and rescue operations. They used theatrical fog to "smoke" up one of the garages so that we would have an idea of what it would look like in a smoke-filled environment. There were only 3 people in our group so since I have experience in this area from work, I offered to go twice, since firefighters always enter a building with partner. That was the hardest station of the night!

The second station my group did was ladders. They put the aerial ladder of the ladder truck all the way up and we could climb as far as we wanted. I, being afraid of heights, stayed on the ground, but assisted one of the on-duty guys in showing the rest of our group about ground ladders.

The third station was all about hoses, water, and pumper trucks. It was pretty neat since the water flow at the technical college where I had fire training was nowhere NEAR the capacity that our city's hydrants put out, let alone being boosted by a truck! Good thing there were other people on the hose or I would have had quite the ride!

At the end of the night we helped break everything down and clean up. We also got a quick tour of the fire station. The guys at the station were awesome, and most of them know me. One of the guys that was there last night was one that I went to high school with. The rest of the guys have worked with my Dad, who was a paid-on-call firefighter for the better part of the last 25 years and just retired this summer.

Next week we'll be covering EMS duties. I'm interested in this because it's an area where I don't already have a lot of knowledge.