The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

SECTION A THE HERALD Wednesday Mart I lftt BURNOUT A tone firefighter pats the Ml alter a practice burn by Georgetown fire department at a heme scheduled to be demolished sms from Maple Lodge Farms March For a change the Georgetown fire depart men got to start a fire on March Here they prepare an old building to set a blase before patting the flames oat Bat one fireman drew the assignment of balancing himself on top of the building to knock a hole Ibraigii the roof Herald photo building schedule from Maple Lodge Farms March a first they made sore they had enough water to pat oat the flames Here the water tanker fill on a water tank erected to make sure they t ran of water Herald photo FIREFIGHTERS IN TRAINING Recruits wait on sidelines for starting assignment By CHERYL MOODER Herald Staff Dressed in full fire gear six men crawled beneath and around over turned tables in search of stuffed fireball but rather one of many exer used in training new recruits to be voluntary firemen Training takes a minimum of six months with weekly sessions of three hours each The last batch of recruits who began Jan were hired when six openings came up in tbe depart meat People beer of openings either through word of mouth or by adver tisements in newspaper or year ly notices such as the last one put out by tbe Chamber of Commerce Cap tain Kevin McNeilly said The fire department Is always looking for new applicants wanting to volunteer their services as firemen Fire officials look at an cants availability first when choos ing new members for the flra depart said the training officer for tbe current recruits Most calls come curing the day and firefighters have to be available MEDICALS Other than that If the male or female applicants are over 19 can members of fire team they will be considered for hiring Basically when the recruits first come in Capt said they are taught what goes on at the fire hall and what Is expected of them For example in the early sessions recruits are told what they are to do when their pager goes off what the different trucks are and which truck la used for which fire and how to use the breathing apparatus Recruits ore also taught how to use the hoses and different ways to climb ladders More Indepth sessions deal with bow to fight different fires search and rescue and auto extracatlon Included In their classroom work are general duties around fire ball such as filling oxygen tanks and washing the trucks Recruits do not go on calls yet IN TRAINING If there is a big fire Capt said a senior person will take tbe firemen in training to tbe scene so they can observe what goes on On Saturday when a bouse which was donated to fire department was burned recruits went to watch the other volunteer firemen put out the blaze The main method of teaching recruits is through experience and to take the tune and go through the steps said New recruit Jim Manning who owns Chlldschool In Georgeto still forgets his pager goes off even though he has bad the device since beginning Jan IB I still Jump he said Growing up in Vaughan Township Mr Manning developed a the men behind the hoses As a kid be spent time at the flrehaU and got to know a lot of the So far Mr Manning baa gone through six sessions learning such things as how to use the breathing apparatus and search and rescue mien you go into a mock fire situation they tape a garbage bag Kodak Canada finds being a volunteer fireman an exciting and challenging Job A desire to change careen In Itiated the Georgetown man into for a position as a volunteer reman Mr Pollock is considering becoming a full time fireman On Jan IS Mr Pollock received Capt Kevin over your bead he said Recruits are sent a prepared room where tables have been overturned and told to find any victims A second simulated search and rescue situation was set up outside Mr Mf said Straw filled mlea were hidden In the burning Maple Lodge bouse Saturday for firemen to find Mr Manning and his classmates had to take a truck apart and iden tify the equipment find It very interesting the new recruit said I find tbe whole thing quite a challenge To oo a good Jon takes commit ment Mr MBr said He keeps his pager on 34 hours a day seven his pager hat gloves helmet coat and The recruits were given a basic Initiation and told what was SHIFTWORK Another recruit Mark Pollock who does shift work In Toronto for it safely or not to do it at Mr feels It Just takes com mon sense It is better to get to the Ire hall safely than to get killed try get there The training sessions are more than Mr Pollock expected them to be He thought he would only have to slap on a mask grab a hose and be Instead he realized training Is something you have to keep up on even when you are fully trained You have to keep up on It or you fall behind quickly Mr Pollock said It Is actually like going back to school Training sessions are put on a schedule so if a recruit misses a ses sion he can make up for It later firefighter tbe training of freer said PICK UP DUMMY Search and rescue situations also surprised the Georgetown man When entering the house Mr Pollock said he thought I can Just walk In and pi ck up the dummy In reality though It Is not so easy You have to stay low and crawl around in the pitch black Mr Mann ing said You do not know what you may find Things such as broken beer bottles may be scattered on the floor You are told that when you are In he you do not make decisions Inside as to what to bring out Mr Pollock said You bring out anything such as dolls that resemble human lite When you cannot see you cannot second guess he said Recruits are now learning how to hook up the hoses to fire hydrants Fire trucks only carry gallons Capt McNdl The hardest part of training for Mr Pollock he said wax to stay at the while everyone else went for a run to check out a call Mr Manning found crawling SAME DAY TAX RETURNS You have to keep a mental picture where you are he said The heat la not even there yet STEP BY STEP Training is a step by step process where recruits are shown how to do things and taught common sense CapT McNeilly said You have to be shown common sense to know common sense he said Training officers have the recruits show what they have learned so that when they are faced with a fire situation of fleers know what they have taught them has sunk In There seems to be more Hon In a fire hall staffed by tary firemen than paid ones Capt McNeilly said They come here to do Ihdr part for the community he said No one Is forcing them to get outafbedat2am They want to ONESTOP CAR CARE FAME vim hoof CM COVER SAME DAY SERVICE FREE RUNNING BOARDS installation SUNROOF SALE CONTINUES From 14 While Supplies Lain FOR FREE ESWATE CALL OB DROP IN AT 8734570