There was not a fire at the CrossFit 137 in Waterville.

Scott, the owner, and Jesse and Ronnie, two of eight CrossFit trainers, did not exercise their firefighter skills by rushing and extinguishing a fire, coming to the aid of a distressed resident, or supplying their professional assistance at an accident scene.

They are some of the firefighters in Waterville and surrounding communities who are putting their own lives in danger at a moment’s notice to do something they believe in. At Crossfit, however, they form an integral team training the health club’s membership while maintaining and improving their own physical condition.

I joined CrossFit several months ago, giving me an opportunity to spend time with my Pepere, who brought me to class. We were met by a very welcoming group.

During one trip to class, Pepere and I talked about how firefighters Scott, Ronnie and Jesse were part of the team at Crossfit. I decided to research and write about a firefighting as a profession.

First, we wanted to express our admiration to the firefighters: a “thanks in advance” for your help with any emergency need within our communities.

To find out more about firefighting, I interviewed my maternal grandmother’s brother-in-law, Don Madore, who was fire chief in Fort Kent. Here are some of those findings.

Firefighter vehicle drivers drive the trucks to the fire. They make sure to get water at the site from a hydrant, a pond, lake, or river. Sometimes they even need to use water from a tanker truck.

The most important firefighter is the chief. The chief instructs the crew at the station and at the emergency site. The chief will assess the emergency site to determine how to attack the fire. Do they attack it from the outside, or do they need to find a means of getting inside the building? Getting inside may be through the upstairs or downstairs windows, or they might use an ax to bust inside for water entry.

Firefighter responders all meet at the station when they get an emergency call. All of the firefighters dress before going to the site. Firefighter trucks can carry seven or eight people, while smaller ones carry two, three or four. Depending on the size of the fire, firefighter teams from other communities respond to help. Besides getting to the fire, the firefighters may need to do traffic control or assist medically as needed until the police and EMTs arrive to help.

I also learned some of the skills needed to be an efficient firefighter. It takes lots of training! There is training in laws and government rules, and physical conditioning, like the stuff Scott, Jesse, and Ronnie do at CrossFit 137. They learn communication skills, teamwork, respect, trust, and organization skills.

Working with each other is second to only one thing: making sure you do things safely.

Firefighters work wherever there are incidents in the community. They fight fires at residential houses, businesses, warehouses, or any building. Firefighters bring their boat for water rescues, and a snowmobile for trail incidents is also used.

When I asked him what counts as winning in a firefighter’s world, Don said you have to do the best you can do, since that is all you can control. Working safely is also important. “The only way to fail is to quit,” he said.

The firefighter’s code is that you conduct yourself in a safe, respectful, professional, responsible manner. Everybody is human, so take responsibility for your actions.

Firefighters wear a total about 60 pounds of clothing. Rubber boots with steel toes, fire resistant pants, a pair of suspenders, fire-resistant coat, a radio, special tools like a wedge to open locked doors, and other things. Leather gloves, helmet with a full-face shield and sometimes goggles. Airpacks with masks for inside the building.

That’s why they need to go to Crossfit 137 to stay fit.

I also interviewed my paternal grandfather, James Bragdon, who I call “Papa.” Papa was a volunteer firefighter for Vassalboro, and he was able to add some other interesting information.

The chief and captains get the incoming emergency calls for help, he said. The team consists of full-time, part-time and volunteer workers.

The chief assigns duties and tasks to the team. Starting pumps, getting, and setting up ladders, making sure no one’s in the house, hoses. And after the fire is out, picking up everything to go back to the station.

A lot of practice is needed for putting out a fire. Maintaining the trucks and equipment at the station is very important. Cleaning the station and your clothing is also very important. Some volunteer firefighters are still in school.

Papa also mentioned that, at the fire, it is important to always have an exit plan to get out of the building. Be safe to make sure no one gets injured.

During my research, I found this oath: “I will never allow personal feelings, nor danger to self, deter me from my responsibilities as a firefighter, I will at all times respect the property of all men and women, the laws of my country, and members I serve with.”

After all this research work on firefighting, I now have a tremendous respect and trust for Scott, Jesse, Ronnie, and all past and present firefighters.

We want to join the others in our community to say: Thank you for your service as a firefighter. You are priceless. We can all apply in our daily lives what you, firefighters, do at work. You are confidently focused on giving everything you have without quitting until the end of your task.

You are constantly reflecting upon your experience to understand what you can learn, not what you did wrong, so you can always improve to be the best firefighter.

 

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