After being voted into the department, I entered what is called a °probie± period, which is a year of probation that all rookie firemen must go through. During this time, I took many courses ranging from water rescue, CPR certification, hazardous material, and extrication training. In addition to these concentrations, I had to clean the firehouse, make beds, wash the trucks, do the dishes, and roll hose. I did this without complaint because I knew it was part of the learning process in becoming a firefighter. All the firefighters were very supportive of me, watched over me, and helped teach me the skills necessary to become a firefighter.

My first fire occurred in a two story wood building. I was at the nozzle of the hose, directing the flow of water with my captain and a fellow firefighter behind me. My captain told me to stay low to the ground as the smoke bellowed out over my head. As I entered a room on the second floor, spraying the fire as I crawled forward on my knees, I could feel the heat burning through my gloves, and my helmet melting on my forehead. I yelled to my captain that I could feel myself being burned. His response to me was, °Once you feel it burning, you¯re already burnt.± So I continued moving, staying to the right of the wall, feeling my way through the room, keeping an ear open to hear cries for help, and calling out asking if anyone needed assistance. Luckily, the house was unoccupied at the time of the fire and we were able to limit the fire damage to one area of the house.

l I responded to was a signal 50, which means, °fire±. I slid down the fire pole, threw on my turnout gear, which consisted of my coat, boots, hat, and pants. I jumped in the tru

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Approximate Word count = 713
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)