A day in the life...First Due Firefighter Camp – Days 6, 7 and 8

Rhonda Griffin

The cadets of First Due Firefighter Camp kicked off their second and final week early Monday morning, and have had nothing but non-stop action since.

After their normal morning routines of raising the flags, prayer, stretching and physical training, the rest of each day has been packed with events. On Monday, the teams gathered for their timed turnout gear tests, with the results to be announced Friday evening during the camp's graduation. Then each team practiced their lifesaving skills by saving a “victim” who was trapped during a rescue scenario.

The bleachers in the Elizabethtown Baptist Church Activity Center were transformed into an emergency scene, with a dummy, posing as a victim, lying prone at one end of the bleachers. The cadets slithered through a hole at the opposite end of the bleachers, crawled underneath to find the victim, and pulled him to safety.

The next two days brought special visitors to the camp, with the North Carolina Highway Patrol bringing a golf cart-style DWI simulator on Tuesday and a visit from the North Carolina Forestry Service with a tractor plow on Wednesday. The cadets were allowed to interact with the visitors to learn more about their roles in working with both of the agencies during emergency calls.

Though the work involved has been brutal at times, the cadets are nearing the end of their camp experience with only two more days to go before graduation.