Nine volunteer firefighters with the Patrick Springs Volunteer Fire Department recently completed their Firefighter I training program.
Assistant Chief Clint Weidhaas said the class is 160 hours long and lasts for four months.
“In that 160 hours there are two separate classes in hazard materials awareness and then hazard materials operations. It’s basically two nights a week, three hours each night, and maybe two weekends a month. That’s just taking a lot away from the family, so it’s a big commitment,” he said.
Weidhaas said the class included a lot of physically demanding training exercises to prepare and teach firefighters how to combat fires.
On average, he said each department does good to have maybe two or three guys in the course each year.
“We haven’t had this many guys since 1997-1998 go through a Firefighter I class. Also, in the state of Virginia, currently it is a 50 percent fail rate in the Firefighter I class, but all of our guys successfully passed,” he said.
Weidhaas noted Patrick Springs has gained seven new members in the last six months, “which is a huge gain for a volunteer department, especially since volunteerism is down.”
He attributed the uptick in manpower to the department’s aggressive recruitment and social media campaigns.
“To be honest, we’ve been lucky at Patrick Springs, and it’s a big commitment on these nine guys that they successfully got through the class,” he said.
Those interested in volunteering with the department are invited to attend its monthly meeting on the first Monday of every month at 7 p.m. at the Patrick Springs Volunteer Fire Department’s station. Contact them via Facebook at Facebook.com/PatrickSpringsVolunteerFireDepartment.