Playing with fire

Training under simulated conditions prepares recruits for real-life challenges

Tom Brophy loves everything about firefighting. From the time he was a kid, when his father, who just retired as acting fire chief in Salem, would drive him around the North Shore in the family station wagon watching other towns fight major fires, he knew he wanted to be just like his dad.

"I always looked up to the firefighters for being hard workers and just watching my dad go up in the ranks," said Brophy, 32. "I always wanted to do something like that."

Brophy is one of the newest members of the Salem Fire Department, having just finished up a 12-week training program at the state fire academy in Stow. He graduated June 20 as one of the nearly 300 newly hired fire cadets who come through the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy every year.

The training course was a grueling and thrilling educational experience, but it was his calling.

"I never wanted to be on a desk job sitting there," he said. "It's quite an experience from what I've seen, and now I'm doing it."

Brophy worked for years as an emergency dispatcher in Salem before he was hired as a firefighter. Fellow cadet Steven Twomey, 41, came to firefighting in another way. Instead of being born into it, he was working in sales for a corporate travel agency when he decided he needed something different.

"After working in the office environment for a number of years, I think I needed something more challenging," Twomey said. "I don't think I really realized I wanted to do this until I was in my mid 30s."

One of the oldest cadets in his class, Twomey took on the challenge of not only getting hired but getting through 12 weeks of training with people half his age.

"I kept up fine with them," he said.

"It was good to go with another guy from Salem," Brophy said. "We're both in the same boat. He's been supportive."

The 72 recruits who joined them from more than 40 other communities have special characteristics that drive them toward the work they do. Chiefs and other officials look for those characteristics in scouting potential recruits.

"I think about men and women who have a commitment to serve and help their neighbors and communities, and people who just have high morals and values and understand the importance and commitment of helping people," said Stephen D. Coan, the state fire marshal and head of the Department of Fire Services.

Over the years, cadet training has gradually expanded from six to 12 weeks as it tries to stress several major components of firefighting, including physical fitness, safety, teamwork, and technical skills and know-how.

"As time has gone on, and as the job of a firefighter has become more complex, the need for increased hours of recruit training has been very evident," Coan said.

Safety comes first. The academy draws from a national campaign called Everybody Goes Home and teaches safety for the cadet, his fellow firefighters, the community, and the firefighters' own families - the title meaning that they too go home when it's all over.

Brophy noted that he learned a lot of technique and little details that would make a big difference in an emergency situation.

"There are a lot of drills," he said. "You don't just throw up a ladder. You lift a ladder so you don't hurt yourself."

Early on, cadets attend a lecture called "The Nature of Fire," where cadets learn the chemistry and behavior of fire. But only about 20 to 25 percent of this instruction is in a classroom. The rest is hands-on, with fire-training exercises.

Fires are controlled and considered safe, but they are meant to simulate real conditions. Cadets wait at a simulated firehouse, then suddenly, tones sound over their radios for a reported structure fire. Every cadet has a role that changes for each exercise. Some take the nozzle and attack the fire directly. Others ride the ladder to the rooftop. Still others are on rescue duty looking for dummy victims.

When the fire is out - usually in less than 20 minutes - the cadets clean up, drink some water, break it all down and reset to do it again. On a recent visit, during 95-degree weather, the cadets did this four times before lunch.

"Today is pretty much extreme conditions. We don't have the luxury to say when we have a fire, but we do take into consideration that these are training burns," said John Kennedy, an instructor at the academy and fire lieutenant from Worcester. "We'd rather have good training fires and have them learn something than worry about beating the crap out of them until they don't even want to be here."

"It's very difficult," Brophy said. "Wearing the gear every day, it's a total change of what you do in life. Throw a tank and a mask on and you're in a whole different world."

There are 23,000 firefighters in Massachusetts. About half are full-time career firefighters, and half are volunteer, or on call. Recruit training is held four times a year for full-time/career recruits. The current class of 72 is the largest the academy accepts.

Instructors at the firefighting academy, which was founded in 1971, are working firefighters from other communities who are hired to teach and share their practical knowledge with the cadets. This is done purposefully so that the rookie firefighters can learn from those who have been in the trenches.

In addition to quarterly recruit training, academy instructors travel around the state offering over 1,000 training, educational, and enrichment courses to emergency workers every year. The physical plant is on 50 acres in Stow. The Department of Fire Services began a three-year construction and renovation project last year, which will include a new department headquarters, vehicle maintenance facility, and storage warehouse.

New recruits from every city and town are allowed to attend training. Boston, Worcester, Springfield, and Quincy have their own facilities and generally do not send cadets to the firefighting academy, said Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for the Department of Fire Services.

Twomey is divorced with a 13-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son. His children and his own parents have been very supportive of his career choice.

"They were proud of me, and it makes the 12 weeks worth it," he said. "I'll ask my daughter how her day was at school, and she'll ask me how my day was at the academy."

Brophy's family and girlfriend of two years have also been very supportive of his career.

"They were very excited when I got hired - 'Finally, it's here, finally you get to do something that you always wanted to do,' " he said.

When Brophy was young he used to laugh when his dad, Tom, would excitedly take them out to fire department parades in various New England towns, and ask him why he got all excited about it. Now he knows.

"He lives it. He loves the fire service," Brophy said. "You gotta love your job, and do a good job, and do the best you can do at that job."

John M. Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com.