Fire

What intrigues someone to want to fight a fire? The amount of men and women who are studying to become firemen at the Philadelphia Fire Academy may surprise you. The job may be difficult and dangerous, but somebody has to do it, and after talking to several current firefighters they do not  regret joining the fire department. They all seem to love what they do and do a hell of a job at it.

When driving down the long driveway, you are amazed by all of the burned, rustic looking props used in training. After finally arriving, there is a building to the left which is used as offices for the instructors, but also used for storage of the fire trucks. Also in the building are all of the names of past graduates whose names are on plaques in chronological order. After talking with a current cadet, he called the plaques motivation to make it through the academy.

The Academy always seems to be a hectic environment probably due to the fact that the cadets don't fully know what they are doing yet. After talking with veteran firefighter Nick Lazar he explained how much progress the cadets  have made over the past several months and thinks the majority of them will make good firemen. One thing that specifically sticks out is the burn tower which is used exactly how it's name suggests. Standing four stories, the building is made specifically so it will be able to withstand fire. When walking through it, the aroma of fire smell reminds you of the smell of your clothes after a bonfire.

After talking with several veteran firemen, their answers varied tone of voice but pretty much all had the same message, which was basically informing all of the cadets to put work in now and it will benefit when they are officially firemen. Nick Lazar, a thirteen year veteran of the fire department, drenched in sweat and covered in black from a fire simulation, took time out of his busy day to talk about the academy. "It's quite flattering that I was sought out to be an instructor of this class." He said his father, former captain in the fire department, would be very proud to see him doing this. One thing Lazar explained was that the on hands experience really allows for the guys to get a better feel of what they're doing. Lazar talked about how a few cadets were excused from the academy due to academic issues. "We do not mess around when it comes to learning in the classroom." Despite a few cadets being removed, that does not take away from the other cadets who have dedicated so much time and effort into becoming a firemen.

A day in the life of a cadet is a difficult one. They must report to the academy as if they were showing up for a typical day work, which is at seven o'clock. To start the day, an obstacle course is set up in the center of the academy, which tests all of the cadets strengths and weaknesses. " The amount of progress they have made in the obstacle course is crazy." Following the course comes a long day of class work and hands on work, which the cadets say is very tiring. "I've done this so much that's it's becoming second nature. I'm just happy that we're graduating soon"  says a strapping young cadet.

The fire academy, from observation, is clearly a very well ran and well kept place that successfully grooms young ladies and gentlemen into firemen. If not for the current firemen who put their time and effort into guiding these cadets to becoming firemen, then the cadets would struggle heavily. To conclude, the city is doing a marvelous job at keeping the academy in good shape and hopefully it only gets better for many years to come.