Pre-Fire Academy Classes

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by NuclearWastE3, Aug 28, 2015.

  1. NuclearWastE3

    NuclearWastE3 The Toxic Avenger
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    I'm starting this thread to denounce, my forum activity, for some time. If you don't want to read all that is below and just want to see for how long I'll be "out of service," just read the blue letter at the bottom of the post.

    I started fire fighting classes, at my local college, to be certified, by the middle of next year, so that I may continue on to the city level and take the "official academy." You may ask yourselves why is it that I require pre-certification classes before I can enter to the "official academy" (since the fire service is an open public profession). Well, the thing is, I don't. I taking the classes, as an advantage, for when I do get in (hopefully) and so that I can take the "official" classes for a shorter period of time (Down from six months, which is the traditional academy, to ten weeks for the certified academy). There is a ton of material to cover and I'm taking an "overtime" amount of hours to complete it. I've been studying non-stop (or, at least it feels like it). The physical aspect of it is difficult and it gets even worse once we need to put on the turn-out gear. When I first put on the fire fighter equipment, my core temperature rose rapidly and it was quite heavy/suffocating. I was like:

    "whoa, how do these guys do it, running around caring hose, climbing up/down stairs, up ladders, etc. And they make it seem easy. "

    My respect, for fire fighters, jumped at a hundred-fold, after having put on that gear. Now I'm gonna tell you some sorta fun stories about how classes have gone so far. On Wednesday, we worked-out sort of vigorously. the instructor made us take out individual hoses, weighing at 40 LBS each (about 18 Kg), and perform exercise with them (we were just wearing shorts and a shirt.....no gear). The instructor pulled out a deck of cards and told us that each Face meant a different exercise; and, depending on the numerical value of the card, that's how many we had do to. A total of three guys had to vomit during the workout. It was quite amusing to see; especially since the instructor was enthusiastic on how he got three guys to puke :p.

    Today, we had to exercise in turn-out gear (we had everything except a gas mask and air tank). We did more hose caring and other hose related stuff. It was really, really hot; so hot, that I've considered becoming a Siberian firefighter :p. Anyway, it reached 96 F (about 36 C) and we had to be outside, all day, atop of a parking lot; so I imagine the temperature was several degrees hotter than what it really was. To add to that, like I said earlier, we were in our turn-out gear; so I can only imagine how hot it really was. Well, all day, I believe that I was, the trainee, who was drawing the most unwanted attention. The entire time, my helmet kept falling, to the ground, and sliding at strange angles when we had to carry the hose around. At certain points, I couldn't even see where I was walking since the darn helmet kept sliding over my eyes.....I didn't see anyone else having that much trouble (though, I guess, if one would want to be a wise-guy, they'd say I wouldn't be able to see anyway since my helmet was over my eyes :p). Constantly, I was the only one that had to keep picking up his helmet and re-adjusting it. The instructors kept calling my name out, asking why I was taking so long, why I was having to keep adjusting my helmet, why I had to keep taking off my gloves. Several times, the instructors even came up to me and I retold them my issue. Each of the gave their try on tightening the adjustable head-thing and the chin strap. Time after time, the helmet still came loose. Anyway, I came home and put everything to the lowest possible setting and it's still too small. I need to see if it will be possible to buy a larger adjustable valve.

    Another thing that happened during the drills was that, when I bent down to roll a hose, I heard a loud snap from my pants. No, I did not tear them. The belt buckle somehow tore through the attached portion on the leather belt and fell off. At that point, I had to worry about keeping my helmet on and keeping my pants up....No fun. Later on that day, there was more hose caring and I almost fainted. The neck portion my my jacket felt too tight and I couldn't really breathe. My helmet kept covering my eyes and falling to the floor; so I had to keep putting my hose down and dawning the helmet back on. By that point, I was at the back of the pack. Two people, up in front, were already down and needed to stop for the day. I continued on slowly, breathing deeply. I felt as if I was wearing a neck tie. I eventually made it to where the two people were down and the instructor assisting them saw me. I put my hose down, once again to adjust my helmet. I was rather weak but tried once more. I felt like a pressurized bottled ready to blow. I passed the instructor and, eventually, he ordered someone to assist me with the hose and told me to stop for the day :(. Four other people were told to stop for the day. The instructor took us in, called an ambulance, and had everybody's vitals checked......Except mine. Almost immediately after having taking my gear off, I was able to breathe again and the paramedics insisted that I was not to be worried about. Unfortunately, the ones removed from the group, including myself, were not allowed to continue the regime. I felt okay to go back in, but they still didn't let me for the remainder of the day. Fortunately, that does not mean that I'm kicked out. I'm allowed to get back in if I bring a doctor's note saying that I'm fine. Also, I think I'm gonna need to rent out a larger fire jacket since it almost chocked me to death.

    So yeah. I'll still check in to read posts, but I'll probably not post anything since my free-time is very limited. Sorry to the everyone and the RPers. I hope that I'll be able to post more soon. :)
     
  2. Bamul

    Bamul S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
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    That's absolutely fine, real life is ultimately much more important than this forum - especially when you're doing honest work like this. It sounds really tough and obviously it's not going to get any easier, only harder when you finish because when you'll be employed you will actually be risking your life. Many people seem to have a strange aversion towards firefighters, particularly here on Bonfire Night, and I guess it's understandable that they feel bitter when someone ruins their fun. However, it's really disrespectful considering that firefighters are basically here to help everyone (I have heard of cases where people swore, threw bricks at and even pissed on firemen). Unlike the police or army, firefighting is one of those honest jobs that can really only be beneficial to everyone.

    ...No offence to Aaron, of course. I dislike the military, but I still like him as a person and he is free to do whatever he wants. ;)

    Anyway, I wish you best of luck with that Nuclear and I hope to see you back on the forum soon once it's over. You will be missed. :)
     
  3. NuclearWastE3

    NuclearWastE3 The Toxic Avenger
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    Thank you for the kind words, Bamul. I really appreciate it. :hug:

    I agree. It does ruin people's fun; but, it is a safety aspect that needs to be taken in account. What the firefighters should do, over there on bonfire night, is have their pumper, at the ready, in case anything goes wrong. I'm guessing the Bonfire night is on your university's campus, is it not? Then, the chances of it catching on to other builders is much greater than if it was out on the outskirts of town. Still, I don't think it should be turned off right away -just as long as it's in a controlled environment :)

    That's quite harsh. I've heard of similar things happen to firefighters over here too.

    Yup. Aaron is a great guy. :D
     
    #3 NuclearWastE3, Aug 29, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 29, 2015
  4. TotalAaron

    TotalAaron The Oracle of Awesome

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    I am sure am wait what? why are you looking at me like that ARGGGGG!

    Anyway good luck dude and hope to hear some more fun tales after you finish :D
     
  5. DaDeadlyCheese

    DaDeadlyCheese Well-Known Member

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    Pretty cool that you're training to be a fireman! Good luck with it all!
    I think everyone here at the forum will miss you, including me and the others from the RP.
    Goodbye for now and we shall see you on the other side
     
  6. Cruz

    Cruz Active Member

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    I lol'd at the imagery of you trying to alternate between loose pants AND a loose helmet. Good luck to you Nuclear, the training's gonna be rough but from the sounds of things you've been studying hard, so I'm sure you'll do really good. I have basic fire suppression under my belt and never had to wear the gear aside from a helmet and "wet suit", but my god that hose is frigging strong. The instructors kept warning us that the jet could tear someone's flesh off, and after seeing how it tore up the ground I believed it.

    But yeah! Public service is totally a noble pursuit. I have one more year of technician work to finish in my current course, then I might be off to the RCMP academy here in Canada. Then there'll be a hunky fireman and a cop on the forums, we'll have to put out a calendar or something lol :)
     
  7. NuclearWastE3

    NuclearWastE3 The Toxic Avenger
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    Haha, yup! We got to experience the handling of the hose a couple of weeks after I "signed" off here. We did teams of two with a 1.5 Inch hose and with a 2-Inch hose. Difficult to drag across the grass while it's charged; but it's doable. A week later, we got to operate the 1.5 Inch hose, just by ourselves, and that was quite difficult. As your instructor told you, mine said the same thing about it being capable of tearing the flesh off of someone. He also joked about how we were creating craters, in the dirt, and that the groundskeeper was gonna get mad at him, later on that day, for allowing us to re-surface the terrain.

    Nice. I wish you luck with that ;). We'll see about that calendar though. :p

    -----------------------------
    My classes have gone very well. I really enjoy the company of my classmates and my instructors are actually enthusiastic on what they teach. I've become a shift-leader (the class is divided into four shifts and I'm in charge of "A-Shift"), I've passed all my test and am on top of the academic ladder.

    My firefighting gear smells like cat-piss and vomit. From Wednesday to Friday, we wear all of our equipment and do skills/operation stuff. Within the first hour, my gear becomes completely soaked, in sweat, and we only get to take it off on break. When we return, we have to put on our nasty coats back on. We're allowed to wash them (they say don't wash them in a home washing machine) so I decide to clean mine by hand. I've only been able to wash them, completely, three times since class started. They take many, many, many, hours to dry (especially since we're told not to let them dry in direct sunlight) and I usually end up taking and wearing my gear, damp, by the next day (since I leave it, outside, to dry). On more than one occasion, it's rained over here (which never happens) and I've had to wear my gear nice and soaked. In one instance, I was running late to class and I didn't have any time in attempting to dry my gear. It had rained the night before (so my gear was heavy/wet) and the water had gotten inside my boots. Without knowing, I stepped into them, when instructed to, and all I felt was the water level rise to mid-way up my shin. Awesome.

    We've also had the opportunity to wear gas masks and air cylinders. Unfortunately, the cylinders didn't contain pure oxygen but only compressed air. The instructor who covers the use of the gas masks looks like Clint Eastwood (and he smokes too :D!). He told/showed us how a properly fitted mask should fit. Remember how I once described how my Israeli gas mask fitted me in some gas mask thread....Well, it wouldn't provide me with proper protection (I'll see if I can find that thread later on) . There aren't suppose to be any small gills openings once you have the mask on your face. There should be a complete seal all the way around. He also told me that the "placing of the palm over the filter of the mask" should not be used to determine a 'good seal' because all you would be doing is pushing the mask up against your face. However, from what I've noticed while wearing a fire mask that is too big for my face is that, whenever I pushed the mask against my face, I create a good enough seal and could properly breathe without having any air leaks or outside air from entering; so, I guess pushing the mask up against your face is okay in a extreme emergency situations, but it is not intended for long periods of time (especially if you're gonna be using your hands to carry a weapon, up on the surface, so that you can defend yourself from bandits). One last thing: Clint Eastwood told me that all the straps on the gas mask should be extended and that they should always be simultaneously pulled from the bottom straps first, then the top ones whenever one is dawned. Though, the straps on my mask are rubber, so it's much more difficult to do than the cotton straps that we use during training.

    Hmmm, what else. No one else has puked (that's no fun). On Friday, I'll be going to city's academy to do some training there and we'll get to crawl through a maze, while being blacked out with a hood over our masks, so I'll let you know how that goes. :)

    I believe that's it for now.
     
    #7 NuclearWastE3, Oct 5, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 5, 2015
  8. Bamul

    Bamul S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
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    That sounds pretty cool, very glad to hear you've made progress and are learning new things. I recently started my uni course and it's actually pretty good (though I've only had one "serious" lecture so far among all the introductory stuff), but obviously much less practical and isn't as exciting... on the bright side, there are so many hot girls around here - not only from all around the country but from abroad too. :p
     
  9. NuclearWastE3

    NuclearWastE3 The Toxic Avenger
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    Hey, that's cool, Bamul :D! And lucky you for having all the hot dames. Overhear, my classes are secluded, from the rest of of the campus, and the only girl in my class has a mustache :laugh:.
     
  10. Skaara Dreadlocks

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    I realize I'm a little late here, been on one hello'va mountain trip. Us Norwegians, you know :rolleyes:

    The classes sound exciting and really awesome. I can imagine being a fire fighter can be a cool job, but it must indeed be extremely tough; lousy hours of sitting around in the station just waiting for something to happen, and when something actually does happen, it's very fast-paced and physically close-to-impossible. Makes for some good diversity in your work-life, but I'm more comfortable with the opposite :lol:

    Anyway, good luck with it all, I believe you can do it if you really go for it :)

    Tell me about it - several weeks a year I'm at this huge important school in another city close by, and this week is one of them. Opposed to the workshop where there are almost only men, the whole school building is just crawling with those fine perfect round bouncy shiny.. pipes? :eek:
     
  11. NuclearWastE3

    NuclearWastE3 The Toxic Avenger
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    Just gotta keep searching for those trolls. They're out there, somewhere. :spy:

    Thank you, Skaara :). I'm really passionate toward these classes compared to what I was doing before. As for sitting around the station, my instructors have said that the fire dudes do a lot of maintenance and inspections, on tools/equipment, every week and a bunch of other tedious stuff. I'll be needing to do a station visit, for about six-hours, sometime in the coming months; so I'll share how that goes. Also, statistically, about 85% of all incidents, that fire fighters respond to, are medical; so, there isn't much "fire fighting" as one would suspect of a job titled as "fire fighter." Anyway, yeah. There is apparently a lot of free time around the stations. My instructors have also said that the amount of free-time leads to a lot of horse-playing and practical jokes among the fire fighters.


    Whu...Wha....What? :cry:
    Ahhh, nooooo! You guys are lucky. Hahaha. :D
     
    #11 NuclearWastE3, Oct 8, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 8, 2015
  12. NuclearWastE3

    NuclearWastE3 The Toxic Avenger
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    Oh yeah. I forgot about this. It was a piece of cake. It took me 13-minutes to complete. Though, compared to the actually academy cadets, their time beat mine by 10-minutes (however, they've gone through it hundreds of times). Next month, I will be doing staged fire operations in a controlled environment at the academy (safety first :p). Currently, we're going through the procedures that are needed to put out the controlled fire. It's quite fun.

    Also, all that talk I said, several post back, about "how to fit a gas mask." Well, now that I've gone through a "proper fitting" for a good mask, my opinion has changed. Basically, what you want to do is:

    • grab something that produces smoke (my Clint Eastwood instructor used irritating smoke tablets). Go into a confined area (such as a closet or bathroom) with your gas mask and the smoke thing (you should have somebody else controlling the smoke thing). Put on your mask (make sure it is nice and tight) and have your buddy light up the smoke thing. If you smell it right away, then you've failed the test (if this happens, you should leave the test area and tighten up your mask after getting fresh air to relive the smell of smoke from your nostrils).

    • To continue the test, simply turn your head to your left shoulder and then to your right shoulder (do this at a semi-slow but steady pace). Have your friend quickly put the smoke thing, next to your outer cheek, when you turn to the side. Have you friend take the smoke thing away when you're about to turn your head the other way. Do this three times. Your buddy should be wearing a mask too if the smoke product is irritating or harmful.

    • Next,bend at your waist and then return to the upright position. Have your friend put the smoke thing next to your cheeks, upper head, and filter (if you've got one) when you're on the down position. Repeat 3 times.

    • Once done, bob your head up and down at a slow but steady pace. Have your friend apply the smoke under your chin when you look up....etc. Repeat 3 times.

    • Next, read a passage from a book or other type of reading material. It doesn't have to be long. While you're reading, have your buddy apply the smoke on the side, top, bottom (everywhere) around your mask.

    • Finally, repeat the procedure listed in the second bullet. If you didn't smell anything, the you passed the test.

    You could improve the test my moving your face, more viciously, as to try and make the mask slide around and see if any leaks are present. I don't know. The way I described it the way I was fit tested. Hopefully this information will prove itself useful. I also hope my explanation wasn't completely horrible. I've gotten lazy, when it comes to writing, for the past month or so. ;)
     
    #12 NuclearWastE3, Oct 19, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 19, 2015
  13. Bamul

    Bamul S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
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    Not horrible at all, very easy to understand and to the point. Interesting how much preparation this takes, but you won't regret it when entering a blazing building.
     
  14. Skaara Dreadlocks

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    Interesting, now I know how to test if my gas mask works. Eh, too bad I have emptied my only filter :p
     
  15. NuclearWastE3

    NuclearWastE3 The Toxic Avenger
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    ;)

    Awhhh, damn. One thing I should mention: on each step, I said that it should be repeated 3 times -which it should. However, I don't want you to think that the motions, such as turning your head or bending at the waist, should only be done 3 times.

    It should be: turn head left and right XXXX NUMBER OF TIMES for SMOKE APPLICATION #1 (End of cycle 1). Turn head left and right XXXX NUMBER OF TIMES for SMOKE APPLICATION #2 (End of cycle 2). Turn head left and right XXXX NUMBER OF TIMES for SMOKE APPLICATION #3 (End of Cycle 3). Continue on to the next step.

    You should be doing the motions as many times as possible. The whole point of the test is to see if your mask will give way and create an improper seal from possible moments one might perform on the field. Oh, and if you're wondering about the step where I said you should read something from a book: well, I guess that plays into the test because you will be moving your jaw and other mouth muscles/bones a lot (possibly leading to a greater chance of your mask moving around).
     
  16. Bamul

    Bamul S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
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    There was a pretty large fire in the Chinese part of the city where I go to study, several floors of a building were ablaze; 7 fire trucks, some cop cars and an ambulance were at the scene. It went on for like 5 hours and the amount of smoke made other parts of the city appear foggy, not to mention the smell and scraps of ash floating about in the air.

    It reminded me of you and the kind of stuff you might be doing after finishing this academy. :p
     
  17. NuclearWastE3

    NuclearWastE3 The Toxic Avenger
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    Hey, thanks, Bamul! :D
    Sounds like it was quite a scene out there.....Kind of imagine the city looking like Silent Hill with all the ash floating around.
    ------------------------------------------

    Well, fellas. I'm back. It was a crazy and exciting class: I made new friends, learned a crap-ton, studied hard, slept very little, attempted to ask a girl out, made it as valedictorian, and now, I'm just waiting for my final test scores to be posted so I can determine whether or not I kick ass.

    I just finished taking my final exam, administered by the state of Texas, just a few hours ago and the results should arrive within a week. I feel quite confident that I passed all sections of the test.

    For the live-fire training I mentioned to you guys a while back:
    That was really fun. We got to put out a propane tank fire, a Christmas tree, and a car fire (all in a controlled environment, of course :p). The car fire was, by-far, the most difficult of the three -I can say that I got my ass handed to me in that one. We also did some interior building fires, such as putting out a kitchen fire, an upstairs bedroom fire, and a basement fire. I enjoyed the basement fire the most because your literately could not see a thing when you entered the building and went down the flight of stairs. However, when the fire appeared, then you could see some flashes of orange light up ahead; but, once you turned the nozzle on and the water hit the fire, all the steam would come rushing back and fog up the face piece of the gas mask.

    For every evolution that we did, each person had to rotate through 1 of 3 positions: the nozzle man, the back-up, and the guy providing slack. Nozzle guy was easy if your back-up was doing their job. Back-up and the guy giving slack were equally tiring.

    I'm also graduating (at least according to my grades in the class, not the State Final Exam) as number one. I held that position for 16-weeks; and now, unfortunately, I'm being asked to write a speech and will be needing to present it this Tuesday. I'm so scared, I hate public speaking. :sad:

    I also went up and asked a girl, for her number, for the first time -she was absolutely beautiful. And a plus was that she was taking pre-requisite classes for fire fighting. However, I was kind of manipulative on the way I got her number. Anyway, it turned out she already had a boyfriend which happened to be taking the same classes as her. Whatever. Her loss :p

    Now that this is all over, I will be heading over to the medical portion of firefighting in the spring. I'll pass the exams there and I will then apply at the city level. Apply and complete the city level requirements, and I should be a hired firefighter by then end of 2016 or beginning of 2017.

    Guys, I missed you all. It's good to be back. ;)
     
    #17 NuclearWastE3, Dec 11, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 11, 2015
  18. Bamul

    Bamul S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
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    Glad to see you back and congratulations on all the successes! Definitely sounds like time well spent and something to be proud of. :)

    You should join our skype chat too, it's going pretty well.
     
  19. NuclearWastE3

    NuclearWastE3 The Toxic Avenger
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    Oh, yeah! DaDeadlyCheese mentioned that to me on youtube the other day. I even saw how made mention, of our encounter, on the "count to 10,000" thread. I'd like to join (don't have skype, but I can get one quick). Are you guys just text chatting, video, voice....What? I'll let you know when I have an account running.
     
  20. DaDeadlyCheese

    DaDeadlyCheese Well-Known Member

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    Awesome man! Well done on all of the exams and everything, being top of your class is really impressive! Way to go!

    We use text on Skype in the group chat, so come and join us quick!

    Don't worry about the speech, I'm sure it'll go great