We see brave firefighters running into burning buildings all the time. Imagine if you’d have to face those flames. The nightteam’s Nicole Linsalata went into the fire with a group of firefighter trainees.
There’s a firefighter’s prayer, asking for the strength to save a life and the ability to hear the weakest shout.
But first, must come the training.
Thirty-five men and women are poised to become the newest class of Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue graduates – one of the largest in the department’s 113-year history.
The plan: more people on trucks, more help for the roughly 55,000 service calls each year.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Chief Stephen Gollan: “This many cadets is going to completely change the face of our department and the availability of our level of service to the community. We have every level from fire explorers, that have been with us throughout high school, and a part of our fire explorers program at 20-years-old all the way to people that are in for their second career.”
Like Brandon Clark, who served on a U.S. Navy submarine and as a volunteer firefighter.
Brandon Clark/firefighter trainee: “Sometimes it just dawns on you that this is what you should be doing and you swallow your fears and go down that path.”
And former fire explorer and paramedic Dunya Milaji
Dunya Milaji: “I always liked the medical field and then my mom told me to try EMT class. I tried it out and I fell in love with my first ride along.”
Then there’s Cheyenne Lagman, who lost her own home to fire as a 5-year-old in Hollywood.
Cheyenne Lagman: “Me and my brother, we had our animals, so when a firefighter came to me with my bunny, I knew something, like I knew I lost my home, but at the end of the day that was my family and that’s all that was important to me. I knew that’s what I was going to do.”
On this Friday morning, they’re going to practice being in a fire, examining how it behaves and putting it out. I went with them.
Inside shipping containers, set up to mimic a two-story home, material is set on fire in what could be a side bedroom.
This is my vantage point facing the fire, backed up in a corner directly in front of a stairway.
The flames get more intense and spread outside the room.
Nicole Linsalata: “And you can see the smoke come a little bit closer to us and the flames are kind of clinging to the ceiling.”
Firefighter: “Hey guys, what you see here, this would be indicative of a bedroom fire, right? When the bedroom gets going, the room gets involved, all the furniture, the bed, everything in there, gets going.”
We can hear voices down the side hall to our left.
Firefighter: “They just forced entry at the front door and I came down the hallway to do a search for reported victims.”
When the water comes, the room gets darker and the heat more intense. You can almost feel the steam through the gear. But the fire is out.
Nicole Linsalata: “Now firefighters say for new recruits who’ve never been in a situation like this, it can be so disorienting because you cannot predict absolutely how hot it is, and the visibility at some points is almost nothing.”
Trainees enter a second fire. Your screen is dark but that’s exactly what the firefighter wearing this camera is seeing.
With the darkness, the heat, the risk – they say comes camaraderie.
Cheyenne Lagman: “Honestly, it’s like we’ve gained a family.”
And the skills to fulfill that other line in the firefighter’s prayer to protect every neighbor.
Nicole Linsalata, 7News.