Recruits fired up about training

Twenty-one firefighting recruits spent a hot afternoon scrambling through dark tunnels, running up stairs and dragging fire hoses, the entire time breathing bottled oxygen through masks.

One by one, they ran out of air.

On purpose.

The sensation feels like choking. The mask gets claustrophobic.

“How are we doing? Everybody fine?” Valley Fire Lt. Bruce Hamner asked as recruits exited the Spokane Valley Fire Department’s five-floor training tower.

“Yes, sir,” came the reply as the still-green firefighters formed rows.

Friday was the beginning of intense fire and medical training that will prepare them to become Valley firefighters in September.

But this recruit class isn’t business as usual.

It’s Valley Fire’s largest, with 20 new recruits. One District 8 firefighter is also going through the school. Valley Fire is a large, suburban department that covers nearly all of Spokane Valley as well as outlying areas. It has 129 full-time firefighters that make a starting wage of approximately $42,900 each year.

Typically, Valley Fire hires a handful of new firefighters each year to replace retirees and runs a nine-week recruit school in conjunction with the Spokane Fire Department.

There are several reasons for this year’s high number. Valley Fire will open a new station this September. Also, the department agreed to hire the four full-time Millwood firefighters. Valley Fire is in the process of taking over firefighting responsibilities in the town of Millwood, and lateral transfers for the Millwood firefighters was part of the deal.

Travis Stack completed a number of strength tests, including dragging a weighted hose, while several other recruits cheered him on through their masks.

“We dropped agency names at the door,” Stack, a former Millwood firefighter, said during a short break.

The challenge is to take a group of people who range in age from their mid-20s to their mid-40s and make them into a team, said Lt. Paul Hatten, a training officer for Valley Fire. So far, it hasn’t been hard. Each of the recruits really wants to be there, Hatten said.

The recruits were culled from the 483 men and women who originally applied. Recruits had to pass written, physical and psychological tests. Some recruits, like the Millwood firefighters, had previous experience working for full-time departments. Others had worked as volunteers or for the state Department of Natural Resources. A few were completely new to the profession.

As Valley Fire’s training tower filled with smoke, firefighters got ready to go in. Some fumbled with their masks, others were ready in seconds.

Lt. Jeff Bordwell leaned in to talk to the recruits as they got ready to enter the building.

“Just relax,” he told them. “It’s a confidence builder. Don’t worry. You’re going to be fine.”

With that, they crawled single file into the smoke.