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Educational Programs / Fire Safety Tips / Quiz
What It Takes
Before being accepted as firefighters, all recruits must demonstrate their ability to cope with the strenuous mental and physical demands of the job. Firefighters must pass agility tests which include activities like running up a ladder, vaulting a railing and then rushing to a seventh floor level. They must raise one end of an 85-pound ladder overhead to arm's length, twice, and then carry a 125-pound dummy across a floor, up a flight of stairs and down a ramp. During this test each recruit must carry equipment weighing 85 pounds to the seventh floor during a given time limit.
The Modern Firefighter
Today's firefighter is a highly-trained and specialized professional. He or she must be experienced in the use of complex techniques and equipment in order to combat fires. The firefighter must be prepared to battle fire on the twentieth floor of an high-rise building, in a crawl space of a factory warehouse, or beside the main storage tank of an oil refinery. In the dead of a winter night, the firefighter battles searing heat and numbing ice. During a clear mid-summer day, the firefighter gropes through pitch black smoke. Firefighters know that the safety of the community and the lives of other firefighters depend on their performances. Firefighting is tough, demanding work, requiring every last bit of strength, endurance, intelligence and courage. Only a few are good enough to earn the title, "Firefighter."
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