Paper number 1: Rough draft

If you were to ask a little boy what are the top five things he wants to be when he grows up, chances are pretty good that “I wanna be a Fireman!” would be one of the things he said. Growing up I actually wasn’t one those kids with the toy fire trucks and Dalmatian dogs, it wasn’t until high school that I really decided I wanted to pursue a career in the fire service. Right out of high school I applied at North Kitsap Fire and Rescue in Kingston for their Resident Firefighter Program. There are three main steps to the Resident program.

The first step after getting accepted into the program is an 8-10 week fire academy. The academy was half classroom learning and half drill ground and practical learning. On the first day of the academy I really didn’t know what to expect. There were 12 of us, all nervous as hell but excited for an opportunity to become a firefighter. The first thing our training Captain said to us was “The fire service is paramilitary, that means you will march, you will not speak unless you are spoken to and the only thing you should be saying is yes sir or no sir!” After that pep talk, we were issued our bunker gear and spent most of the next three days putting it on, taking it off, putting it on, taking it off… until we could literally do it in our sleep. After the first week we began learning basic firefighting skills and practiced them over and over again on the drill ground until we were absolutely exhausted. I never would have guessed how tiring basic activities like just walking around can get when you have 50lbs of gear on that traps all your body heat inside. It sucks. Once we had learned enough of the individual skills, we began putting it all together in “pretend” fire situations, usually with flares and smoke machines to simulate fire and smoke. When we started these drills we realized we were still a long ways from being competent firefighters. We were a mess at the beginning, but slowly, after weeks of messing up and getting yelled at, we started to understand the importance of teamwork in situations like this. I still remember one day, it was late in the afternoon and we had just finished cleaning up all the hose and tools that we had used that day. Our instructor had us huddle around him for the usual review of the days drills. He said to us that we looked like real firefighters out there and he wouldn't think twice about walking into a fire with every one of us. That was a proud moment for all of us for sure. After that day when everything "clicked" in our minds, I think everyone felt pretty confident about the rest of the academy. We had just a couple more weeks before our live fire training in North Bend and the drills were becoming much more fun now that we were working together as a team and applying the skills we had learned correctly. The day of our live fire training we met at our station at 5AM to get everything ready and catch an early boat to Seattle. I will probably never forget that day, it is very hard to describe the first time you're inside a burning building that is hundreds of degrees inside and you can see the instructor's flashlight literally dripping from his helmet because of the heat. It was amazing, but humbling at the same time. We learned quick that there's times when it is just too hot, even in all our gear, and you just have to back out to safety. We went over basic operations like the effect of different types of fire attacks and ventilation for about 5 hours but the time went by too fast, and before long it was time to pack up and head home. The completion of live fire training marked the end of the fire academy. Only 8 of us graduated but it was a proud day for us and our families. We received a national Firefighter 1 certification as well as a national Hazardous Materials Operations certification. 

After the fire academy, the next step is EMT training. Not nearly as cool as fire fighting but a very important part of the job because about 75 percent of the 911 calls NKFR responds to are medical calls. The EMT class was about a month longer than the fire academy and there was much more bookwork and it took a lot of studying and homework to pass. The main instructor, a Paramedic from Central Kitsap, was a bit hard to deal with sometimes, one of those guys who thinks he is way funnier than he really is. He had one of the most monotone voices too, his lectures seemed like they took forever. On Saturdays, we had class all day and it was usually a day of practical learning. We got hands on time, actually learning the skills and techniques. The Saturday classes were actually kind of fun. When we were learning about removing a patient from a vehicle we went out and used the students cars to get a feel for what it would really be like in the field. My EMT class was not easy and took a lot of dedication to get the work done and learn everything we were required to learn, but it all paid off in the end. I am now a nationally and state certified EMT and get to take care of people everyday that I'm on shift.

With the completion of the fire academy and EMT class, the third and final step of the program is on the job training. I learn more and more about the job everyday, there are a lot of things that they just cannot teach you in the classroom or even on the drill ground. Every patient I see is different than the one before and I can't treat them the same or care for them the same way, it all takes experience which is the main benefit of this program that I am so lucky to be apart of. Along with experience, I am provided with additional training opportunities, I am now a Wildland Firefighter type 2 and a member of the North Kitsap Wildland Team. When there is a wild fire in eastern Washington, we go for weeks at a time sometimes to help with the confinement of the fire. In my time with North Kitsap I have also been trained and certified to drive the engines and operate the fire pumps on the engines. The on the job learning is never ending, it doesn't matter how long I remain in the fire service or what department I work for. There is always more to learn and more ways to improve myself to become a better firefighter.

In my year and a half with North Kitsap Fire and Rescue I have learned so much more than I could have ever expected. I have learned the skills of the job but also so much more than that. It has taught me that if I set my mind to something I can accomplish it, no matter how hard it is or how many people say I'm too young and immature. I've learned teamwork, I have played sports before and I can honestly say the fire service has taught me more about working together than anything else has. There's nothing out there that will teach you how to work with others quite like the fire service will. You work, live, eat, hang out with, and trust, with your life, the guys that you are on shift with, it truly is a brotherhood unlike any other that I have experienced. I have learned more from the fire service than I can write about in this paper. It isn't like anything I can explain but I love what I do and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for me.