Daily Herald reporter gets firsthand taste of firefighting

Imagine jumping out of bed to an alarm in the middle of the night, 10 minutes later climbing up a 50-foot ladder and praying your boots don't slip as you ax a hole in an ice-covered roof.

This is the life of a firefighter.

After vicariously experiencing their world as a police reporter for the Daily Herald writing about the work these backbones of our communities put in, I was given the opportunity to experience firsthand what it is like to strap on a mask and step into a live fire scenario.

“Fire Ops 101,” held at the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy in Glenview, brought local government officials and myself through all the steps of a typical response to a fire: Ladder and ventilation work (think sledge hammers and axes), search and rescue, an EMT scenario and a live fire experience.

To start off the day, I was suited up with about 50 pounds of gear.

I quickly realized this was not your average grade school field trip to the fire house when I was told my first mission: Crawl into a smoke-filled building, drag a hose up to the second floor, feel my way through a maze of corridors and drag out a dummy, all while being restricted to about six inches of visibility.

Now imagine when you know that mannequin has a beating heart and seconds are more precious than years.

About 100 firefighters from Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Palatine and Rolling Meadows volunteered that early October morning to put meaning behind the words backdraft and flashover. They were there to explain the dangers they face and the importance of funding for high-tech gear such as a thermal imaging camera that has changed the game of saving lives.

The second training station and arguably the most important focused on ventilating a burning building. After sitting in an unventilated room with a live fire earlier in the day, I realized how quickly the heat and smoke can make it nearly impossible to work. Being able to get on the roof quickly and hacking a hole big enough for the smoke to ventilate could make the difference in finding someone stuck in the building. This roof could be two stories high or 10 stories high. Either way, your search team is not going to be going anywhere until you give that blinding black cloud somewhere else to go besides the inside of the building.

The third station focused on the medical side of the job, which I quickly learned involves more than flipping on the lights and sirens while driving to the hospital. Today's firefighters work with complex heart monitors, breathing tubes, defibrillators and are licensed to administer lifesaving medicine.

I may have only trained as a firefighter for six hours, but the experience of peering through black smoke while surrounded by temperatures that could melt your skin is something I will never forget. It will be on my mind the next time I speak with the chief after his crew saves another life.