Future firefighters learn to save lives and property

Greensboro Fire Department recruits prepare to enter the structure as the upper floor begins to burn. Photo by Ivan Saul Cutler/Carolina Peacemaker.

Greensboro Fire Department recruit Treonna Salters joined 21 excited colleagues at an intense live fire training exercise. She is a member of the 76th recruit class of the nationally acclaimed fire department.

At the abandoned two-story structure, Salters and fellow recruits participated in various phases of observing how fires begin, spread and are extinguished.

Live fire training is an opportunity for soon to be firefighters to gain valuable practice and experience in fire control and extinguishment. Beginning on the upper floor, room by room, and eventually downstairs, fire trainers set fires, guiding the recruits to watch the flames quickly spread and how to extinguish those flames internally and externally.

The training ended with the entire structure set ablaze to burn to the ground. As the conflagration spread, teams of recruits sprayed the house with high powered pressurized water for spot extinguishment.

For more information on becoming a Greensboro firefighter, visit the Greensboro Fire Department online: https://www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/fire/employment-training.