Published: June 26, 2009 11:38 pm      

Learning the ropes

Potential firefighters brave physical tests in hopes of being hired later this year

ASHLAND — Kris Wilson, a 30-year-old from Ironton, climbed the rungs of a 100-foot ladder outside Ashland Central Fire Station up into a bright blue sky.

He moved up the rungs steadily, barely pausing after a 6 minute 27 second race through an obstacle course used to test potential firefighters.

Wilson, who was in the Marine Corps for six years, said he was motivated to come and try out for the department because he was attracted to the military-like environment and because he wanted to provide for his new baby, which is due in a couple of weeks.

The physical ability test is one in a series of steps that will wind up at about the end of the year when Ashland will hire at least five new firefighters and possibly seven, said Deputy Chief Greg Ray. Two members of the fire department may retire this year, which would leave two more spots.

Candidates must pass both a written and physical test. They must also go through a background check, a polygraph test and an interview with a panel including firefighters and city officials.

At the end of the process the city manager will make recommendations to the Ashland City Commission, which will make the final decision about who gets hired.

The physical test has 10 different stations including climbing three flights of stairs with 25 pounds of weight, crawling through a tunnel simulating dark search conditions and dragging a dummy to simulate rescuing a fellow firefighter.

All of the obstacle course tasks are performed while wearing a 50-pound vest representing the weight of the gear firefighters have to wear.

Ray said most candidates were running the course under 10 minutes and the fastest time was about 5 minutes and 30 seconds.

There were 67 candidates for the possible spots, but two didn’t show up for their test.

Candidates were allowed to practice on the course a couple of Saturdays before they tested this week.

“The system’s made up so you have to be high on the list to get considered,” Ray said. “You try to take the politics out of it, I guess.”

But he said judgment can be used if candidates score high on tests but there are other reasons that they would not make good firefighters, such as being unable to handle stress.

“When we go somewhere, somebody’s having a bad day,” Ray said.

He said he also takes into account comments from other firefighters on the character and personality of candidates because they have to live with each other for extended periods of time.

“It’s like picking your family,” Ray said.

Engineer Jeff Crews said the obstacle course was a good way of choosing firefighter candidates.

“Everything we do here mimics what we do on the job,” he said.

KATIE BRANDENBURG can be reached at kbrandenburg@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2657.