Flare for the dramatic



04/07/2006

By Leslie X
Staff Writer
leslie [email protected]

ANYTOWN - Flames spewed in all directions from a propane gas tank while firefighter recruits inched their way toward the gas fire until reaching for the nozzle and twisting it off.
The fire died immediately and the crowd of about 100 people erupted in applause. This was just one of the many demonstrations fire recruits performed for their instructors, friends and family Thursday evening at the ANYTOWN County Fire Training Academy.
This year 16 recruits are learning what it takes to become a ANYTOWN County firefighter. The classes are 16 weeks long and run Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Many of the fire recruits have been firefighters in other departments but are required to take the ANYTOWN training program, which has been noted as one of the best in the state by other fire professionals.
"I've been in METRO AREA for a year and I decided after researching to come here to ANYTOWN because other firefighters told me that this was a notable fire department," said Ms. Wannabe, this class' only female fire recruit who moved from Ohio to take advantage of opportunities in the area.
For 15 years, Ms. Wannabe was a practicing emergency medical technician in Ohio but wanted to be a firefighter. She said she tried a couple times in Cleveland but she was turned down each time.
''I always failed the physical agility part," she said. "They had you take a 30-foot ladder, lift it and tap the loft of the ladder on a window, but I could never lift it." Ms. Wannabe said it was only until she came to ANYTOWN County's Fire Department that she realized a firefighter would never even have to do something like that in a real fire situation.
"I think they did that to exclude the smaller men and women," she said.  "But I didn't know that until I came here." Ms. Wannabe and the other recruits have learned how to accomplish what is required of them during a fire but most importantly how to maintain their safety while doing it.
"Safety is one of the most important things they teach you - to look out of your fellow firefighters and citizens and it takes a lot of people doing that," said fire recruit Willie Makit while taking a break from the evening's events.
Since childhood, Willie Makit dreamed of being a fireman and after a year and a half of attempts to fight fires with ANYTOWN County, Willie Makit finally made the cut. He gave up a successful landscaping business to do it but said he couldn't be happier.
"They've done a great job and came in well prepared," said ANYTOWN County firefighter Lt. Paul Iticallycorrect. "Each year we have a higher standard and we get a good crop."  
The fire recruits will complete their training in four weeks, graduate and then become full-fledged firefighters.
"And that's really where the learning begins," Paul Iticallycorrect said.


So what are your opinions? I've added emphasis to the comments that concern me.




roy d.....not hating on the womenz....just come prepared to work.



ETA: names and location changed to protect the innocent.

I'm sure that they can do 95% of the work.  And on 99% of the fires they can get away with it.  But when the feces hits the air circulation device, I'd prefer to have somebody able to get the job done crawling next to me.

''I always failed the physical agility part," she said. "They had you take a 30-foot ladder, lift it and tap the loft of the ladder on a window, but I could never lift it." Ms. Wannabe said it was only until she came to ANYTOWN County's Fire Department that she realized a firefighter would never even have to do something like that in a real fire situation.

I beg to differ. Her coworkers should be worried.

So in reality the actually lowered the standards.

Quoted: So in reality the actually lowered the standards.

No.  They just adjusted them so that women that previously couldn't pass them were suddenly able to.

Quoted: Quoted: So in reality the actually lowered the standards. No.  They just adjusted them so that women that previously couldn't pass them were suddenly able to.

Im all for women getting the same opertunities as men, but if you cant pass the physical tests, no dice. Men ARE inherently better suited for some jobs.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: So in reality the actually lowered the standards. No.  They just adjusted them so that women that previously couldn't pass them were suddenly able to. Im all for women getting the same opertunities as men, but if you cant pass the physical tests, no dice. Men ARE inherently better suited for some jobs.

Men and Women are 100% equal in everyway.
Any differences are the reult of artifical gender constructs.
Off to the Re-education camps with you.

Progressive fires have had sensitivity training so that women can put them out.

Gender norming in the fire service is a huge crock of shit, and has cost a lot of guys thier careers when they blew out their backs carrying the weight for someone else who couldn't pull their own load.

I wonder how Ms. Wannabe does with simply putting on turn outs and an air pack and then carrying a smoke ejector up a couple of flights of stairs? Or is that also something else that a firefighter would never actually have to do? I guess that downed firefighter drills aren't reflective of a real world need either.

Anyone who believes that upper body strength isn't neeeded in firefighting is delusional.

The issue of men v. women in physical tasks will rage forever. But the facts of the matter will not. Men, IN GENERAL, have more physical strength than women, and are therefor better suited for certain tasks.

Women should not be in infantry, artillary, or any direct support units, just as they should not be beat cops who work on their own, UNLESS THEY CAN PASS THE EXACT PHYSICAL TESTS (and they need to go back to the tougher standards).

In the Marine Corps, women STILL do not do the same PT test as men, but they did change the rules to make them run 3 miles instead of the mile and a half that they used to do.

unfortunately (?), burning buildings care not about political correctness.

Quoted: +1 i have seen a few women that performed just as well and better than some men in physically deamnding jobs. that said, they are the exception and not the rule.

And generally such women would sooner beat themselves in the head with a baseball bat than see the standards lowered. They, after all, busted their hump to pass the exams precisely because they knew that they needed the skills and abilities the tests looked for.

The last thing they want is some sorority chick with an entitlement mentality to come along and f*ck things up.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: So in reality the actually lowered the standards. No.  They just adjusted them so that women that previously couldn't pass them were suddenly able to. Im all for women getting the same opertunities as men, but if you cant pass the physical tests, no dice. Men ARE inherently better suited for some jobs. Men and Women are 100% equal in everyway. Any differences are the reult of artifical gender constructs. Off to the Re-education camps with you.

LOL I have to give a speech arguing FOR femininism in a half an hour, I guess the reducation is working. HELP!!!