Fire is no monkey business

“Something must be on fire” I hear one man say to another as we walk by dressed in our firefighter attire. A couple of minutes later a little girl tugs her mother’s clothes and points at us. It is our first week as recruits and I’m still getting used to seeing our reflections as we walk by the windows of buildings. We’re fire fighters under training, but to the public, we’re just firefighters. Our dirty jackets make us look experienced. We have been assured that at the end of our training, assuming we pass the exams and tests, we will all have the knowledge and experience needed to safely serve and protect the public in the role that has been assigned to us. We’re all a little nervous, and the comprehension of the importance and seriousness of what we will be doing is growing increasingly by the minute. Our second day they had us do an endurance test wearing complete fire fighter equipment for smoke and fire rescue, and we did heavy work in a hot environment (90°C) with the goal for us to hit our absolute physical limit and be unable to continue the exercise. It was the most humbling and physically strenuous experience I think I’ve ever had. The day after we did water rescue training and an in-water work out. This also placing high on the list of extremely strenuous activities I’ve done. Being a scuba instructor, I undoubtedly had a huge advantage doing the water exercises, but many of the other recruits really struggled. One afternoon we watched a video of a fire in a nightclub (caution: Graphic content). Horrible. Terrifying. A wake up call. This week has been an emotional roller coaster of indescribable excitement, exhaustion, humbleness, passion and eagerness to learn. I am looking forward to the following months for continuing our training.