made it through week 2, and it has been something. thursday was the maze, which was essentially a wooden apparatus, about two feet wide, and at best two and a half feet high. at certain points the only way to progress was to get as skinny as possible and shimmy your way through. about 10 ft in my air pack got skewed to one side and it seemed everytime i tried to move, it would get hung on something. they also worked in several dead ends where you had to find doors to advance. add to this the fact that it is completely dark and we were on air for the first time, it was intense. several times during our run i had to stop and reassure myself that i was not going to get stuck and suffocate. two people went through at a time, and you were expected to finish with your partner. me and my partner, shane, got separated towards the end and the instructors were not very pleased when i emerged almost empty of air and sans shane. other activities of the day included chopping wood on air for 5 minutes, as well as learning how to don and doff the SCBA, and fill tanks. i made the mistake of skipping lunch and paid for it that afternoon. by 6 o'clock i could barely stand and my vision was starting to go blurry. luckily i made it home with minimal liquid regurgitation, and Beth was waiting to feed and comfort me. the week took its toll on the rest of the class as well; we lost 7 on thursday, which brings our total down to 34. it was quite an emotional day as one of the friends i had made in the class dropped. he was a great guy, he just decided the job was not for him. he will be missed. the instructors have really kicked it up a notch. they are starting to demand a lot more of us, and i anticipate loosing a few more before next weekend. friday was devoted to knots, which thanks to my rich nautical upbringing, i had no problem with. although tying said knots while wearing firefighting gloves is another story. we will be expected to tie the knots in gear next week in under 45 seconds. next week will also be ladder tour, which is supposed to be hell. as best as i can gather, we will be carrying a 50 ft extension ladder around campus in full gear for several hours. should be fun. needless to say i will be enjoying every minute of this weekend. hope everyone is doing well. i look forward to hearing from you. go gators.

http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=1362430257#/photos.php?id=1362430257


Also, this is a link to some photos of the pt we have been doing. you can almost feel the humidity and smell the puke.

week 2

half way through week two. a couple more tests to report. 94 on the first responder final. pretty happy with that, although i think i could have done better. i scored an 88 on the first test of the fire portion, which was mostly covering administration type topics. while i am not very happy with the score, it is not info that is going to be vital in the field. and to be honest, i did put in, at best, a "b" effort in studying for the test. live and learn. test two is tomorrow. it will cover our gear (bunker gear, SCBA) and it will be covering only one chapter so studying should not be as big a problem. we will also be out of the classroom for the first time. it will be to go over getting into our bunker gear and donning our SCBA. thursday is also the day that we go through the maze, which i am told you will have a problem with if you are clausterphobic at all. i dont anticipate any problems, but time will tell. i have adjusted somewhat to pt, and despite being continually sore, i can feel myself improving. looking forward to the weekend to allow the body to recover. onward and upward!

Week One

So this is the start of the Fire School blog. I figured this would be more efficient than sending out emails, and i figured you could all use yet another distraction during the week. I will update as often as i can, at least once a week. If anyone wants to get in touch with me, and please feel free to do so, my email address is coltfrye@gmail.com. Hope everyone enjoys.
This first week has been devoted to three things: PT, First Responder, and establishing our turd status on campus. Firstly is PT, or for you laypeople, physical training. It starts every morning at 7:00 am and lasts at least an hour. It is led by several of the most insanely in shape people i have ever seen. It generally has consisted of cardio, core, and upper body strengthening. Day one half of the class vomited. I am proud to say that i was not among them. Secondly has been the First Responder training that we have been receiving. It has been excessively boring, but necessary. The main issue has been that we have to go through a 500 page book in a little over a week, so you can imagine the pace that we have been keeping. That is one thing that has been painfully evident from the start, that fire school is all about pace and efficiency. Thirdly has been everyone's overwhelming willingness to remind us every chance they get that we are the very lowest men on the totem poll. I don't mind this to much because i enjoy the idea of having to prove my self to recieve respect. Unfortunatly not all of the class feels this way, and before long, I am sure there will be repercussions for members of the class getting "to big for their britches", if you will. My goals from the start of this thing have been to not only complete the training, but to fininsh at the top of the class. There are two titles that i am striving for: Top Gun and Top Acidemic. Out of the three grades I have recieved this week the lowest has been a 90%, and if i want the top GPA in the class that is going to have to remain the lowest. This first week has been tough, but a lot of fun. I know that it will only get more intense from here on out, but that is what it is alll about; pushing us to our physical and mental limits. I can already see a difference in the comrodery of the class from day one. I am looking forward to growing closer to these guys and earnning their trust and friendship. Week two will finish up the First Responder training and begin the firefighting portion. I can't wait.