Training Huntington’s newest firefighters - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports

Training Huntington’s newest firefighters

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HUNTINGTON, West Virginia -

"I got it!  That's as far in as I can go!" yells one of the new firefighters during training.

Simulating a variety of emergency scenarios is part of the training for the newest members of the Huntington Fire Department.  Ten are now on the job.  They are the first hires in four years.

"It's been rough.  Everyday it gets harder but we get stronger," said Sam Roy, one of the newly-hired firefighters talking about the training.

"First it's an honor to do this.  My uncle is a firefighter.  After 9/11, seeing what all those guys went through I wanted to be a firefighter," said Trey Ford, a newly-hired firefighter.

The new hires come during a busy year for the department.  On average the department has about 3-thousand calls a year.  Nine months into this year the department has already exceeded that number

"They are coming in at an opportune time.  We have had a lot of structure fires so far this year.  These gentlemen unfortunately will be a lot of experience very early on in their careers," said Captain Jan Rader, Training Officer with the Huntington Fire Department.

Captain Rader said the new hires will also help alleviate some overtime issues in the department.

"Obviously if you don't hire in four years, to keep the manning proper on the trucks, people have to work a lot of overtime.  They're getting tired.  They are getting worn out because they are fighting a lot of fire on top of that," said Captain Rader.

Next month the new firefighters will be assigned a fire station.

"It will be nerve-racking but exciting.  It will be a dream come true," said Ford.

Then it's a year of probation and then another three years of training while on the job.  The new firefighters started the application process three years ago.  They've been on the list waiting to be hired ever since.