- On Wednesday, 23ABC's Veronica Morley got the opportunity to join the Kern County Fire Department’s training academy and run through some of their practices.
Whether it's breaking into a burning building or using the jaws of life to break apart a vehicle, everything that firefighter cadets learn to do helps better prepare them to save lives.
On Wednesday, 23ABC's Veronica Morley got the opportunity to join the Kern County Fire Department’s training academy and run through some of their practices.
The day started for them at 8 a.m., getting fitted with the proper gear to ensure their safety. Yet for academy cadets, they’d already been awake and training for hours.
Once suited up, it was time to run the first drill: breaking into a burning building.
With all the gear on, it wasn't easy to maneuver all the steps, break the window and roll in, close the open door to stop a spreading fire, and then check the room for survivors.
It was easy to forget steps, but there were gentle reminders from the cadre. But for those in training, KCFD said they need to get cadets to the point where all of this becomes second nature so that their only focus is on saving lives.
After the building, the next practice was with the jaws of life.
Three volunteers were working in shifts to open a vehicle door and even then, it was a struggle. KCFD said cadets have to learn to run through this process from start to finish typically in a matter of minutes. The hope is that they can get the vehicle open before that second team even reaches the scene.
Currently, KCFD has two academies underway, one of which is set to graduate on July 11.
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