Day 126 - We all headed back to Amnicola Highway...20 of us from clinicals, and 9 from the halls. We moved back into our old classroom. More people required more room. It was the beginning of the burn week, so we all knew we would soon head to the house....but first we had some work to do...push-ups...and what for? A cadet forget their turnout gear....25 push ups later, we packed up and headed to the burn house.
Once at the house, we divided up into groups and started getting the house ready...remove shingles here, knock a hole in the wall there. The threat of rain shortened the afternoon, and we ended the day tarping the roof.
Day 127 - More of the same as we headed over to the burn house. We had to finish removing the shingles and tar paper, pick up the garbage, and other assorted chores. We also went through the house with no visibility (wax paper in the facepiece works great). My group went in a few times, each time completing the task....
Day 128 - Control ed burns started the day. We had groups set up in a rotating drills....Entry group, search group, Re-Hab, Medical, Staging, RIT, and PPV. My group started in the Entry group...While the controlled burns were nothing more than pallet fires, it was hot...the weather was hot...Hamilton County sent out a Rehab truck full of drinks and light snacks. There was also a Medic truck - just in case. We ended the day with roof catching on fire, and almost loosing the house. My group had to do some overhall in the attic...lots of insulation that was not removed....
Day 129 - More of the same drills, different groups....I learned two major things that day...check the door before opening it, and spray the ceiling first....
We had a short lecture on entering the front door on your knees...We ended the day ready to burn the house down....
Day 130 - The live burn - What an experience...We started the day cutting holes in the house. We also removed a large tree, blocking the view of the house. After the crowd gathered, the house went up. We waited a few minutes and took a picture. I was put in a group that approached the house and sprayed water on it (for the video). We then had to protect the fire truck. IT WAS HOT!!! The truck, the air, the FIRE!!
Click to See the Live Burn Video
After lunch, we soaked it down with water. Chief soaked us down with the deck gun. No complaints...the water felt great.
We also recieved our station assignments. Mine was Station 14 in St. Elmo!!
A great way to end the week!! We did lose one more cadet. We started with 32, and we cut 4 to 28.
Day 131 - We headed back to the training center for the last week of the academy. No one was sure what we would be doing. We did however know, that we had to take a EMT practical exam. We prepared three classroms, and by lunch everyone had taken the EMT practical. I got airway managememt and had no problem passing it. In face, all of us passed the exam. We spent the rest of the day getting paperwork done from our clinical week. We also practice graduation marching in the gym. We left looking forward to the end of the week.
Day 132 - We spent most of the day practicing in the gym. We set the gym up, practiced marching in and sitiing down. We tried to shoot the remaining shots for the video, but half of us were missing parts of our class A uniforms. Lunch was provided by the union.
Day 133 - We met at the training center and by 8:00, we were short one cadet. Seems he slept late. We were all punished with 25 pushups. Second to last day, and still doing pushups. We headed over to the church, practiced, and headed to lunch at Logan's. Another free lunch, curtousy of another orgranization. Five of us also made a pit stop at my house for a few songs of rock band. We headed back to the training center to wrap up the video and finaly get a complete set of Class A's. We also completed the rest of our clinical paperwork and gear sheets. All of us were ready for the last day.
Day 134 - The LAST day. We all met at the training center and then headed over to the church. My car was leaking a little oil, so it was a smoked filled trip to the church.
Once there we watched the video:
Click to see the 2009-01 Academy Video
We did a couple of more run throughs with the Chief, and sent home early afternoon. I took my oil spilling car to the shop, and $75 later, had it fixed. Around 4:00 I headed up to the church, for the last time as a recruit.
At Six, the graduation started. By 7, 28 of us became sworn firefighters of the Chattanooga Fire Department. We all celebrated in our own ways. I ate dinner with my family and enjoyed a night with them. It was a great way to wrap up the graduation.
Thus ends the academy journey...but as this one ends a new one begins. 6 months now turns to 25+ years!
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1 comment:
Well done Keene. I was wondering how the story was going to end. It was a lot of fun, but I'm glad its over. See you on the streets.
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