BOISE, Idaho — Fighting fires is dangerous and tough work, and not everyone gets to experience what a firefighter does on a daily basis. I'm your Star neighborhood reporter, Alexander Huddleston, and the Middleton-Star Fire invited me out for the annual Fire Ops 101 to experience what a day in their life is like.
It was an early morning at the Boise Fire Training Center as it hosted the annual Fire Ops 101, providing an exclusive inside look at what a shift could be like for a firefighter. Ricky Walsh, the 7th District Vice President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, says this is also their way to possibly earn the support of lawmakers.
"Whether it's an elected official, an HR person, a health and safety person, or even the media. Bring them out and let them walk a day in our shoes," said Walsh.
Middleton-Star firefighter Derick Rusher nodded, saying, "Everything we are doing today is kind of our bread and butter."
"Not the crazy ones that you see on the news," laughed Walsh.
Rusher listed some of he events, "Hose pulls, forceful entry, search and rescue, and codes."
"In another scenario, we are going to send you into a live burn over here," said Walsh, pointing at a burnt brick building.
Several local officials from across the western us endured six hours of pure adrenaline-rushing activities. Many tasks testing our limits, creating a truly humbling experience.
Walsh finished by saying, "When someone calls 9-1-1, they don't want just three people to come meander around and try and fix the problem. What they want is an athlete capable of doing brain surgery, and they want that problem solved within five minutes."
As we have previously reported, there is a levy coming up on the May ballots that will help staff two new fire stations in the Middleton-Star Fire District. You can find more on that here.
