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Photo by Hans Hallgren

Craig Fire/Rescue rookie Bill Scalzo suits up before entering the controlled burn Saturday at the training facility in Hayden. Scalzo has been a volunteer firefighter in the past, but Craig Fire/Rescue requires a year of training before rookies are considered official firefighters.

Photo by Hans Hallgren

Hay and wood is placed into the training facility to burn as a demonstration of a real fire for Craig Fire/Rescue recruits. Inside was furniture, washers, dryers and other household amenities that a firefighter would have to navigate through during a structure fire.

Craig — Justin Fedinec was crouched in a parking lot north of Hayden, watching smoke pour out of several old train cars.

He was fully dressed in firefighting gear, ready for his turn to walk through the rusted, metal door that led into the train cars and straight into a wall of flames.

"I'm not really nervous," he said. "I've got a little adrenaline going, but if you don't, then you've become complacent and that's not good."

At a training exercise Saturday, Fedinec and five other Craig Fire/Rescue rookie firefighters were tested on their ability to use the procedures they have learned in the past 10 months.

Trainees commit many Saturdays and hours of studying during the course of a year for the chance to be a part of Craig Fire/Rescue.

They take a practical and a written test, as well as participate in a live burn training exercise like the one that took place Saturday.

Craig Fire/Rescue is looking for recruits for next year's training class, who will take the place of the rookies when they officially become firefighters Jan. 1.

Lieutenant Samantha Johnston, a training officer with Craig Fire/Rescue, helped make final equipment adjustments as the rookie firefighters pulled on their oxygen masks and prepared to walk into the building.

"They're like my little kids," she said. "I worry about them. It's my job to make sure they come out the same way they came in."

The training exercise takes place in a tightly controlled environment. Several veteran firefighters from Craig Fire/Rescue and the Steamboat Springs Fire Department controlled the flames for the rookies, many of whom were facing a live burn for the first time.

A Steamboat Springs firefighter proctored the test, which is required by the Colorado Division of Fire Safety.

When Fedinec emerged from the building, he was out of breath, but his eyes were wide with excitement as he gave his fellow rookies a detailed description of the fire's behavior as it rushed over their heads while he and his partner worked to keep it under control.

"That was awesome," he said. "They definitely make it out to be a little different on T.V. shows. There's a lot more procedure to it than you'd think. But it's definitely an adrenaline rush. I've never been in anything like that before."

Johnston said the rookie class began in January as a group of 10. Many aspiring firefighters are weeded out in the beginning, usually because of the time commitment.

During the year, the rookies have helped with a few structure fires and were involved with several brush fires.

But rookie Larry Moe, who works as a miner, wasn't prepared for the rush of facing a live fire without the help of veteran.

"That was fantastic," he said. "They poured diesel on it, and it flared up and came over our heads. It was just awesome. I want to go back in."

But he knows that when he goes on his first call in January, there will be added risk factors, more adrenaline and an unpredictable fire.

"I think it'll be a little different," Moe said. "But I guess that's why we do all this training, and we'll continue to train. The learning never stops."