Fire Prevention Week

This week, October 4-10, is fire prevention week. It is in remembrance of The Great Chicago Fire, which occurred during this week in 1871. Many fire departments will be hosting open house events and will be giving advice and demonstrations on how to prevent fires from starting. I will be volunteering for a few hours at a fire station open house this Saturday. My class will most likely be teaching fire safety to school-aged children. It will be a lot of fun.

CPAT Preparation

I need to start preparing to take the CPAT (candidate physical ability test). Many fire departments require passing this test in order to meet the physical requirements of becoming a firefighter. I will most likely take the test at the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy (NIPSTA). Here is a link to their website for more information: http://www.nipsta.org/CPAT/CandidateInformation.aspx At this website there is also a video that gives the directions for completing the test and which also shows a demonstration on how to complete each station of the test. Here is also a link to a video where a female reporter takes the CPAT to see what it is like for an average woman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UGauJRHlfs&NR=1

Trip Through a Smoke Maze

Hi. I am a student currently enrolled in the fire science program at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. Yesterday, in one of my classes, I went to a fire station and was able to go through their smoke maze, which the firefighters themselves use to train in. To start, we went through with a partner with the lights on to get a feel for what we were in for. Then, we went in groups of three with the lights turned off. It was pitch black. Unfortunately, we were not able to go in with the smoke turned on, but being in the dark was difficult enough. Our "mission" was to find a firefighter (dummy) who was trapped and running out of oxygen and bring him to safety. Our team was able to successfully complete our mission. Doing this activity was a great way to start to get a feel for what it will be like to be a career firefighter. I realize that this was nothing like actually being on the scene of a structural fire, but everyone has to start somewhere. I believe that being a firefighter is something that I will really enjoy doing and that it will be a rewarding career. Here is a link to the website of the fire station which I was at: http://www.bensenvillefpd.org/