Pass or Fail

I love firefighters. Some of my most favorite assignments and shoots have taken place with firefighters, at firehouses, or on scene with some of our finest. My most favorite firehouse moment was in Boston during game 7 of the ALCS when the Red Sox were playing the Yankees vying for a spot in the 2004 World Series. I knew I had to shoot the biggest game in recent history but I wanted an angle, so I headed to the Boylston Firehouse in Boston and watched the game with a great crew of firefighters. We shared pizza and some great jokes on each other, but the night really got going when they were called out to a fire. Oh man! I hung back assuming there was no way they'd let me ride along. I was wrong. They yelled at me to join in and hurry up. So, grabbing all my cumbersome photo gear I headed to the firepole. Before I could even process how I was going to slide down that thing with all of my gear, the guys were already half way down the stairs "Oh, we don't use the pole, we take the stairs!" Of course. I childhood dream destroyed but the birth of a hilarious new memory. The photos were okay that night, but the experience was amazing. There's really isn't much out there that can beat riding in a fire engine, lights flashing and horns blaring as you try to get your helmut's chin strap tight and, oh yeah, hold on tight. But back to why these photos are up here...

The Burlington Fire Department is looking for a new firefighter and they held a series of recruitment testing at firehouse 2 last week to run some recruits through the ropes. These recruits already passed a written exam so now it was on to the physical exam. After being cleared by medical tests, they needed to show their physical endurance and strength. I've created an audio slideshow of the tests but I couldn't fit everything in within my two minute time frame. The recruits needed to, in four minutes or less, raise a ladder up and down, open a hydrant, run 150 feet of wet firehose up hill and through the station, sledgehammer a test point fifty times, crawl through a tight attic crawlspace, carry a ladder, and finally, carry a dummy from one end of the station to the other. Oh, and I forgot to mention they're doing all of this with full jacket, helmut and an air tank strapped to their backs. I was impressed. Part of me wanted to try the course because I've always loved a bit of competition and I'd like to test my physical endurance - but I suppose taking some pictures will do! Enjoy the show!

Firefighter recruits are tested at Burlington Fire Department Station 2