During the 1999 recruit academy, a camera was brought to most of the Saturday training days. These pictures help to chronicle the transformation from average people into firefighters.

The training that was captured on film includes:

• Ladders
• Salvage and Overhaul
• Vehicle Extrication
• Ventilation
• Fire Streams and Standpipes
• Confidence Course
• Relaxing

Other training photos.

• 94kb -  Crew Leader Gollnick filling an air bottle.
• 54kb -  Crew Leader Grimes starting a saw.
• 67kb -  Lonergan wearing SCBA.
• 71kb -  Crew Leader Grimes acting as a safely officer.

Ladders

Firefighters are known for three things, red suspenders, shiny red fire trucks, and ladders. It takes a special person who is able to climb up a ladder in order to crawl into a burning building. In order to do that task safely it takes training and practice. When fire fighters are not using their ladder to go into a burning building, they may use it to get to a better position to fight a fire.

• 75kb - Aguirre and other recruits typing a rope onto a ladder to safely pull it to the top of the training tower.
  
  
• 79kb - Pulling the ladder to the top of the training tower.
  
  
• 82kb - Anderson and Rapier using a roof ladder and cutting a ventilation hole into a roof with a chainsaw as Crew Leader Chapman looks on.
  
  
• 118kb - Anderson and Rapier using a roof ladder and cutting a ventilation hole into a roof with an axe as Crew Leader Chapman looks on.
  
  
• 40kb - Recruits using a roof ladder and an axe to make a ventilation hole in a roof.
  
  
• 99kb - Crew Leader Chapman supervising recruits using a roof ladder.
  
  
• 43kb - Using a ground ladder and a roof ladder to obtain access to a roof for ventilation.
  
  
• 145kb - Anderson and Rapier using a roof ladder and an axe to ventilate a roof. Stunning photo by Crew Leader Chapman
  
  
• 94kb - Crew Leader Grimes using a rescue technique to safely bring Lonergan down a ground ladder.
  
  
• 100kb - Ladder 31, 100 foot aerial ladder truck in front of the training tower.
  
  
• 69kb - Recruit used a ground ladder to get to the roof of the training tower.
  
  
• 76kb - Recruit on a roof ladder with a chain saw.
  
  
• 119kb - Recruits using a roof ladder and axe to ventilate roof.
  
  
• 105kb - Speckelmire and other recruits typing a rope onto a ground ladder.
  
  
• 63kb - Recruit on a roof ladder with a chainsaw.
  
  

Salvage and Overhaul

Making the flames disappear is the easy part of being a fire fighter. It is the additional hours spent working on salvage and overhaul that is the hard part. Salvage and Overhaul is, simply put, protecting what the heat, smoke and water did not damage from being damaged, protecting what was damaged from being further damaged, as well as making sure all signs of fire has been extinguished.

• 71kb - Witt and Anderson with back pack shop vac.
  
  
• 56kb - Witt using a back pack shop vac to practice vacuuming water.
  
  
• 91kb - Taylor supervising a recruit folding a salvage tarp.
  
  
• 77kb - Taylor and Crew Leader Gollnick demonstrating how to use a salvage tarp.
  
  
• 69kb - Crew Leader Gollnick supervising recruits practicing using a salvage tarp.
  
  
• 61kb - Crew Leader Gollnick supervising recruits using a salvage tarp to cover a car.
  
  

Vehicle Extrication

Pullman Fire Reserves take pride in vehicle extrication. That is one of our primary responsibilities while on the scene of a car accident. Many people have heard about the "Jaws of Life" but few have seen them.

Sometimes there is nothing wrong with the car other than the fact in needs to be stabilized before we enter. In those cases we use wooden cribbing and air bags.

• 64kb -  Anderson breaking window on a car.
  
  
• 126kb -  Witt, Speckelmire and Lockman stand next to red station wagon before roof bent backwards.
  
  
• 95kb -  Speckelmire watches Lockman put a dent in the roof of the red car to make it easy to bend roof back.
  
  
• 97kb -  Anderson Witt standing next to red car with roof bent back.
  
  
• 128kb -  Speckelmire watches Anderson use a small pair of bolt cutters to cut a steering wheel.
  
  
• 103kb -  Small Blue car being cribbed.
  
  
• 125kb -  Side view of small Blue car being cribbed.
  
  
• 149kb -  Crew Leader Chapman and Crew Leader Gollnick discuss extrication.
  
  
• 102kb -  Crew Leader Chapman uses a screwdriver and a hammer to get into a cars lock mechanism.
  
  
• 76kb -  Crew Leader Chapman discusses extrication to recruits as Carda looks on.
  
  
• 120kb -  Crew Leader Gollnick drinks water during a critique of the day's activities.
  
  
• 116kb -  Graber with a roofless red car in the background.
  
  
• 79kb -  Recruits take a door off of an upside down car.
  
  
• 101kb -  Recruit uses hand held cutter to cut through a cars' sheet metal.
  
  
• 100kb -  Team work - rolling a station wagon Part 1.
  
  
• 82kb -  Team work - rolling a station wagon Part 2.
  
  
• 91kb -  Team work - rolling a station wagon Part 3.
  
  
• 61kb -  Recruits practice cribbing small Blue car.
  
  
• 110kb -  Speckelmire, Witt, Lockman and Graber watching a car being cribbed.
  
  
• 79kb -  Two station wagons with no doors.
  
  
• 103kb -  The roof of the Blue station wagon completely removed.
  
  
• 89kb -  Witt using small bolt cutter to cut steering wheel.
  
  
• 124kb -  Crew Leader Gollnick, with the assistance of Witt and Speckelmire, demonstrates prying a car door off the hinges.
  
  
• 118kb -  Witt gets ready to crib small Blue car as Graber supervises.
  
  
• 138kb -  Witt and Speckelmire start to crib small Blue car.
  
  
• 89kb -  Witt and Lockman standing with power tool in front of red station wagon.
  
  

Ventilation

Ventilation is a very important tool in the fire department. It helps fire fighters with fire control. After a fire, ventilating a building allows people to enter it safely without the necessity of wearing SCBA.

• 68kb -  Anderson and a recruit wait to spray water past an open window to force smoke out of the building.
  
  
• 102kb -  Crew Leader Grimes supervising Anderson spray water.
  
  
• 41kb -  Graber watches a recruit work with a ventilation fan.
  
  
• 48kb -  Crew Leader Grimes standing on the 3rd floor of the training tower with smoke pouring behind him.
  
  
• 71kb -  Recruit using a ventilation fan.
  
  
• 71kb -  Rapier standing next to a smoke ejector.
  
  
• 59kb -  Recruits using water to ventilate a building.
  
  
• 56kb -  Smoke rolling from training tower.
  
  

Fire Streams and Standpipes

Fire fighting is not necessarily as simple as putting water on a fire. There are different techniques used while fighting a fire. We are trying to protect property as well as put out the fire. The fire is going to cause property damages as well as the smoke and water. As fire fighters we have the ability to reduce the amount of water used in putting out a fire. That helps reduce the property damage.

Think about a lit matchstick. You could use a gallon of water to put out the matchstick, or a single well placed drop. That is in effect what we are trying to do.

Along with using a small amount of water, using a standpipe can decrease the time it takes to start fighting a fire as well as decrease the length of hose needed.

Learning how to use these tools and methods allows firefighters to decrease damage due to fire and water.

• 60kb -  Taylor leads recruits to the top of the training tower where a standpipe was opened and spraying water. Taylor is shutting off the standpipe opening.
  
  
• 131kb -  Lonergan stands in about 5 inches of water that pooled on the roof training tower due to the standpipe being opened.
  
  
• 103kb -  Looking down at Engine 32 with hoses extending from the engine.
  
  
• 130kb -  Crew Leader Gollnick operating the pump on Engine 32 during an exercise.
  
  
• 31kb -  Loading hose back on the engine is a task that is best completed with team work.
  
  
• 85kb -  Speckelmire and a recruit hold hose in preparation of practicing fire streams.
  
  
• 41kb -  Taylor stands in a doorway of the training tower as water is pouring out below his feet. He is wet from head to toe as he was standing next to an open standpipe. He did not know it had been opened
  
  
• 76kb -  Taylor and Graber standing next to each other waiting to lead the recruits through the next set of exercises.
  
  
• 50kb -  Looking down at 4 recruits getting SCBA tanks on in preparation of an exercise.
  
  
• 79kb -  Looking down at recruits who are standing a stream of water coming from the training tower.
  
  
• 68kb -  Water is raining down from the training tower onto recruits.
  
  

Confidence Course

The confidence course is a true measure of ones physical fitness. In the confidence course an SCBA is worn while doing a variety of physical exercises. The SCBA's that Pullman Fire Department use holds about 30 minutes of air under ideal conditions. While under stress of doing physical activity, the air tends to run out a little faster.

Events are timed to make sure the recruit exerts himself. Those events include:

1. Carrying a roll of 50 foot 2 1/2 hose around the training tower.
2. Opening and closing a fire hydrant.
3. Climbing a ground ladder, a roof ladder, then starting a chain saw.
4. Climbing up and down a flight of stairs.
5. Climbing to the 3rd floor of the fire training tower. While there raise and lower a 50 foot section of 2 1/2 inch hose four times.

The recruit will continue breathing what air he can get from the tank until there is absolutely no air left.

The 1 Minute Drill
After the confidence course recruits are given 1 minute to get the SCBA gear on and ready to go inside a fire. This event requires the recruit to turn on the air tank, turn on the PASS device, don the air pack, don his mask, pull up his hood, put on his helmet, and put on his gloves. The time stops when the recruit claps his hands.

• 101kb - Anderson putting his mask on during the 1 minute drill.
  
  
• 57kb - Carda walking around the training tower as part of the confidence course.
  
  
• 61kb - Crew Leader Chapman timing a recruit doing the 1 minute drill.
  
  
• 81kb - Crew Leader Chapman looking for another 1 minute drill victim... er... participant.
  
  
• 91kb - Graber supervising Carda walking with a roll of on her shoulder.
  
  
• 81kb - Crew Leader Grimes supervising Rapier walking around the training tower during the confidence course.
  
  
• 92kb - Keeton taking a hydrant during the confidence course.
  
  
• 101kb - Rapier taking a hydrant during the confidence course.
  
  
• 49kb - A recruit walking around the tower doing the confidence course.
  
  
• 93kb - Taylor supervising a recruit walking with hose flaked on his shoulder.
  
  
• 85kb - Rice getting ready to do the confidence course.
  
  
• 66kb - Wedam preparing for the 1 minute drill.
  
  
• 69kb - Recruit starting a chainsaw on the roof of the training tower after climbing a ground and a roof ladder.
  
  

Relaxing

Before the day started and when there was a moment between exercises we had a chance to talk and get to know each other. Most of us were strangers with one another at the beginning of the class.

I called this section relaxing, only because we were not actually involved in an activity at the time of the photos. In some cases we really did have a break and were relaxing, sometimes it was just a few of us waiting for our turn to participate in an exercise.

• 29kb -  Carda and her dog.
  
  
• 78kb -  Carda looking at a puppy.
  
  
• 34kb -  Anderson standing with Engine 32 in the background.
  
  
• 74kb -  Rapier, Rebel, Lonergan and Wedam attending a critique of a rescue evolution.
  
  
• 94kb -  Crew Leader Chapman, Witt and Aguirre hanging out near Rescue 32.
  
  
• 110kb -  Crew Leader Chapman talking to Lawrence, Speckelmire and Lockman.
  
  
• 76kb -  Crew Leader Chapman sitting on the hood of a wrecked car.
  
  
• 98kb -  Anderson looking more funny than normal.
  
  
• 45kb -  Crew Leader Gollnick with his suspenders hanging down.
  
  
• 134kb -  Crew Leader Grimes talking to Wedam and Rice as Taylor looks on.
  
  
• 100kb -  Grimes looking at a helmet on Ladder 31.
  
  
• 27kb -  Graber with a smile.
  
  
• 68kb -  Lawrence eating a donut before training.
  
  
• 83kb -  Lawrence, Rice, Crew Leader Grimes and Llywellen talking.
  
  
• 83kb -  Lonergan, Carda and Wedam talking to each other.
  
  
• 35kb -  Lockman taking advantage of our lunch break.
  
  
• 81kb -  Lawrence on top on the training tower with North Pullman in the background.
  
  
• 58kb -  Keeton threatening my life with a hammer.
  
  
• 45kb -  Rapier walking away from Engine 32.
  
  
• 88kb -  Speckelmire looks on as Lawrence eats a donut.
  
  
• 80kb -  Taylor and Carda with Carda's dog.
  
  
• 77kb -  Witt, Crew Leader Grimes and Llywellen standing.
  
  
• 24kb -  Witt telling a fish story.
  
  
• 75kb -  Witt and Lawrence trying out for the "Men of Pullman Fire Calendar."