Columbia firefighters practice intense fire response

The Columbia Fire Department’s first recruit class of 2019 is now experiencing live fire situations in training.

The recruit class is in its eighth week of training and spent the morning Tuesday going through its third live fire situation out of the nine total fires they will fight in training.

Each live fire evolution gets more extreme, CFD Assistant Chief Brad Fraizer said. The department uses simulated fires to learn how to handle extreme situations.

At the Columbia Fire Training Facility, recruits go through the motions of fighting a real fire. From operating the firetruck to charging the hoses to clearing the building, the firefighters are constantly practicing safety and technique.

The new recruiting class, which features six new firefighters, had to go through weeks of classes and courses before getting to the outdoor real fire situations.

The number of firefighters the department brings on is dependent on how many spots they’re looking for. Currently the Columbia Fire Department has 142 full-time positions, and they train year-round to be prepared for anything.

The motto for the Columbia Fire Department is “save lives and conserve property.”

Check back for a first-person look at the training.