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Louisville Fire & Rescue recruits spent 25 weeks in 2009 at the fire academy at 15th and Hill streets learning the ins and outs of being a firefighter. Here’s a look at what they learned and when.

Created by Courierjournal on Oct 6, 2009

Last updated: 03/11/10 at 10:21 AM

• Graduation
  Oct 16, 2009 12:00 AM

• Final testing
  Oct 12, 2009 12:00 AM

  Two days of final testing.

• Fire prevention
  Oct 5, 2009 12:00 AM

  Recruits learn how to teach the public about fire safety.

• Hazardous materials
  Sep 28, 2009 12:00 AM

  Sept. 28-Oct. 2: All recruits are trained and certified to respond to hazardous materials situations, including spills and gas leaks.

• Safety and survival
  Sep 22, 2009 12:00 AM

  Sept. 22-23: Recruits learn how to get themselves out of situations in which they become trapped, including how to exit a building head-first and then get down a ladder, how to untangle themselves from ropes or wires and how to force their way through a wall.

• Swift water rescue
  Sep 18, 2009 12:00 AM

  Recruits get a taste of what is required to rescue victims from flood situations or quickly rising waters.

• House burns
  Sep 15, 2009 12:00 AM

  Recruits practice putting out fires in two dwellings donated to the fire academy.

• Chemical training
  Sep 8, 2009 12:00 AM

  Sept. 8-9: Recruits learn how to combat chemical and flammable gas fires at the Dow Chemical plant in western Louisville.

• Volunteer work
  Sep 4, 2009 12:00 AM

  A group of recruits went into the community to volunteer cleaning up homes that had been damaged in August’s flash flooding.

• High rise fire detection
  Sep 2, 2009 12:00 AM

  Candidates are taught how to locate a fire in a tall building and how to attack the blaze.

• Forcible entry
  Aug 31, 2009 12:00 AM

  Recruits learn how to force their way into a building by using a host of tools, including axes.

• Training tower burns
  Aug 27, 2009 12:00 AM

  Aug. 27-28: Recruits get more experience with fires in the training tower.

• Wildfires
  Aug 24, 2009 12:00 AM

  Recruits learn techniques for clearing brush and trying to control fire occurring in wooded areas, as well as what to do if they are surrounded by fire in those situations.

• Auto extrication
  Aug 19, 2009 12:00 AM

  Aug. 19-20: Auto Extrication. Candidates are taught how to free victims trapped in vehicles involved in accidents.

• Truck and engine
  Aug 17, 2009 12:00 AM

  Aug. 17-18: Truck and Engine Operations. Recruits learn about each piece of apparatus and how to use it.

• Tower burn
  Aug 14, 2009 12:00 AM

  Recruits get their first experience putting out fires in an exercise at the training tower.

• Rapid intervention
  Aug 10, 2009 12:00 AM

  In Rapid Intervention Team and Firefighter Maydays, recruits learn how to save themselves and how to help another firefighter who gets into trouble.

• Physical agility tests
  Aug 5, 2009 12:00 AM

  Candidates take a new agility test that will be state-mandated for all firefighting recruits in coming years.

• Search and rescue
  Jul 27, 2009 12:00 PM

  Recruits learn techniques for searching smoke-filled and burning dwellings.

• Hoses
  Jul 21, 2009 12:00 PM

  July 21-24: Recruits learn the fundamentals of managing and using hoses. The training includes learning about the water stream, how to lay out hose for use and how to clean and put hoses away.

• Ladders
  Jul 14, 2009 12:00 PM

  July 14-16: Recruits learn to use ladders of various lengths, including being taught how to safely put them on and next to homes. Instruction includes using ladders on roofs, raising extension ladders as a team and the safest way to climb the ladders.

• Building Construction
  Jul 1, 2009 12:00 PM

  Recruits learn how a home is put together and what the structure might do under stress of a fire.

• EMT training
  Apr 27, 2009

  April 27-June 26: Emergency Medical Technician training. Recruits learn basic life support skills, including opening airways, giving cardio pulmonary resuscitation, delivering babies and stabilizing broken bones.