Fire training rages on for new recruits
One of 13 new recruits for the Northern Lakes Fire District enters a mock training scenario to rescue a fireman in distress through thick smoke from a Hollywood smoke machine.
JOSA SNOW/Press
Northern Lakes Fireman Logan Robideaux removes his hood after being "rescued" by 6 of the 13 new recruits during a training drill. The trainees from across the country will officially join the district in April.
"I’m running out of air," Northern Lakes fireman Logan Robideaux shouted into his radio. "In the back right corner, but I’m not sure, I’m disoriented."
The six fire recruits listening outside jumped into action and charged into smoke-filled rooms to search for Robideaux. They found him tucked in the back left corner of an array of shipping containers set up to represent a building. Thick smoke billowed inside making it difficult to see.
Robideaux is one of last year’s recruits to the Northern Lakes Fire District, and this year he volunteered to support new trainees in exercises like this one.
The group of 13 was hired this month and will graduate April 22 as the largest class in the district’s history, said Fire Chief Pat Riley.
Mock circumstances prepare them for real situations.
The recruits from as nearby as Timberlake to as far as South Carolina dragged Robideaux to safety, where he removed his helmet, face mask and hood.
“I’m going to be sore tonight,” he said, after being dragged across the uneven floors of the container building with his oxygen tank on his back.
Robideaux works under Northern Lakes firemen Eric Sorenson and Nate Combes to teach a team of six recruits. The other seven were broken into another group to be able to teach both teams more effectively.
The recruits also exercise together with a CrossFit trainer.
“We’re also trying not to beat them up before we get out,” Sorenson said.
Their day begins with exercise at 7 a.m. and a flag ceremony. Then they either hit classrooms or the field.
The day gets more hectic as teams run back and forth between a fire station and the training apparatus.
All of the recruits are lateral transfers, and hiring them is only possible through a federal $4.5 million grant the district received in September.
Their wages range from $67,000 to $80,750, depending on qualifications like EMT advanced or paramedic, said Deputy Fire Marshal Chris Larson.
“Those are the experience levels that we can appreciate,” Sorenson said.
The crew’s wages will not continue to be funded if Kootenai County doesn’t pass a levy prior to the grant expiring at the end of three years, Riley said.
