1 of 7

Story by James W. Robinson

Photos by Jen Jaqua

Suffolk Fire and Rescue provided a look at how our future firefighters train to serve city residents while also detailing outside of the norm duties that go beyond the smoke and flames. 

In two separate interviews, one on Oct. 30 and another on Nov. 1, Battalion Chief Christopher Hehl, Firefighter Recruit Abigail Gilliam and Community Risk Reduction Coordinator Katie Russell as well as Assistant Chief John Demitri Wilson had a chance to discuss both the training that goes on within SFR’s Fire Academy as well as the department’s special Technical Rescue Team, which handles unique situations and rescues.

Training at the Fire Academy

Following a behind the scenes look at recruits using their learned skills to put out a fire and rescue a test dummy, Hale detailed that the academy lasts approximately a year long with “about five and a half to six months” of EMT at a training center on Market St., and another five and a half to six months of fire training. 19 recruits worked on their fire training with 12 recruits doing their EMT training. 

“So [during] that six month period, they’ll literally swap locations. So those 12 and those 19 don’t necessarily interact, they’re basically two different academy classes…but they’ll graduate at the same time, in theory,” Hehl said. “So we’ll graduate 31 recruits [in] August of 2025, which is about the same time that we’re going to cut the ribbon on our new burn building. So, we’re excited about that.”

With the Fire Academy being the first stop for aspiring firefighters, Gilliam detailed the process of what recruits need to do once they decide to start their firefighting journey.

“So we go through an interview process. We also go through the CPAT [Candidate Physical Ability Test], which is a physical test as well, and then a set of panel interviews as well as academic tests as well,” Gilliam said. “So it’s a long process to get in, and then you’re within the academy, which is what we’re doing right now, going through our Firefighter I certification. So this was our first burns for Firefighter I.”

With burn training held in the City of Franklin, which saw recruits practicing to force entry, put out a fire and safely rescue a test dummy, Hehl detailed the different aspects that recruits learn in their training and combining those into practice.

“…In anything we do, it’s crawl, walk, run, right? So for the last three and a half months, respectively, this group has gone from the very basics, the history of the fire service, communications, how to put their gear on properly, how to stretch hose lines, how to manage nozzles, how to throw ground ladders, how to force entry into a door that’s locked. So how to gain access,” Hehl said. “So today is a culmination of all of those basic processes. So they don’t have to do anything outside of the scope which their job performance [requires]. So really today, they’re just putting it all together for the first time, and being in an environment that has a lot of fire, which produces smoke, and they’re feeling some heat.”

Likewise, Hehl detailed that recruits meet at their main fire school base, St. Julien’s Creek Annex in Chesapeake for further training routines as well.

“And they meet and muster up every morning and go through their equipment checks,” he said. “They do PT every morning to make sure they’re meeting the physical standards. They generally have a quiz or some form of a test. So they may maintain our academic standards. And then from there, whatever discipline it is, we’ll do lecture. Always precedes practical evolutions – crawl, walk, run, right? So then, then we’ll start applying it with more stressors, if you will.”

Along with Franklin for burn building training, Hehl says they share resources and facilities throughout the Hampton Roads region, with recruits going to Virginia Beach for their Fire II burns. After the academy and graduating with Firefighter I certification, recruits would advance to learning Firefighter II techniques, such as driver pump operator, rope rescue, vehicle rescue and more. Along with noting that aspiring firefighters must be 18+ adults to apply, Russell detailed what they need to know once they start their journey.

“They should know that they’re going to push themselves beyond what they think that they can actually accomplish,” Russell said. “But they are supported by a crew here of the training staff that is really going to support them and teach them, and then they’re also going to build relationships within the fire academy that last throughout the rest of your career. And that’s a big thing.”

Hard to reach rescue

On the Technical Rescue Team, Wilson detailed how they handle specialized incidents that Suffolk residents don’t see on a regular basis. Members are trained in rope rescue, trench rescue, water rescue, confined space rescue, vehicle rescue as well as structural collapse rescue. Wilson provided details on structural collapses.

“You’ve seen the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and multiple collapses due to natural disasters. You see that, there takes a special type of training to understand the dynamics of a building collapse and how we’re going to access those victims for removal,” Wilson said. “So again, we have people in that class just this week who are learning those requisite skills in order to remove people from those type of incidents.”

Wilson says that many members are also a part of the Virginia Task Force as well, the ESF9 Urban Search and Rescue Team, which are activated internationally and nationally for man-made or national disaster incidents.

“As you see, there were many of us that just recently came back from Hurricane Helene and the destruction that that presented to assist in any way possible,” Wilson said. “…we talk about the Urban Search and Rescue side of it, is trying to locate victims whether it be a collapsed home, or building or water rescues, but it’s also a humanitarian effort in that too. Because it was more than just doing the rescues, it was checking on people [to] see how they’re doing, what we could offer, handing out water or donations and just assisting the public in any way we can. So, that was huge.”

Large animal rescues are another aspect of the team’s work, with horses seeing rescues as well as a camel being rescued by the team in Windsor. Wilson says when responding to animal rescues in the past, they didn’t have the equipment or training to handle the situation at the time.

“…We’re getting the calls, we’re assisting the best way we can, but in evaluations, we learned that, hey, we need to do better as far as our training and equipment to help assist our citizens when they do have these horse incidents.”

Wilson says along with getting training and purchasing recommended equipment to better assist horses, they also partner with a local veterinarian to help get horses back on their feet or back on level ground if they fell in a ditch. Due to this rescue speciality, their Technical Rescue Team has seen calls to Chesapeake, Isle of Wight and other Hampton Roads areas. However, these rescues are not the only calls they respond to. Wilson noted how Technical Rescue Team members are “not absent” from normal firefighting duties of house fires and EMS calls. 

“They have to go above and beyond that. So it’s not like our team is just, that’s the only calls that they respond to is technical rescues, no. They respond to, we like to call them ‘routine calls on a daily basis’ with the expectation or anticipation of some type of technical incident, what [is] occurring. They have to be trained and ready to respond,” he said. “And that preparation, it’s daily. It’s daily. It’s hours each day that are spent honing your skills so you’re prepared to respond to [these] type of incidents.”

Wilson says that training for these “low frequency incidents” calls for members to be dedicated to their training, so they are “sharp and ready” to perform their duties when needed. As part of the Tidewater Technical Rescue Team, with Suffolk serving alongside Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Norfolk, Wilson says they unite quarterly to train together.

“In some type of discipline, whether it be a rope rescue, a trench, a confined space, we train together because we depend on each other in this region. As many times with these types of incidents, especially in trench and confined space, even though we have the training and equipment and the preparation, manpower is sometimes needed,” Wilson said. “So as with the mutual aid in our way, we work well to erase those lines, to pull in assistance. So, we train constantly together so if a larger incident does occur and we needed our brothers and sisters from another jurisdiction, they’re there, we know each other, we know what to do, and it’s seamless in our integration and operation.”

Wilson continued.

“So it’s a lot of burden that’s placed on these men and women that are on our technical rescue team, which is located out on Station 1. But they do it with honor and pride. They’re prepared, they’re trained. They’re ready to respond for whatever that incident may be…,” he said.

Wilson likewise says it’s his “passion” to assist Technical Rescue Team members to provide what they need to make their job easier, safer and more efficient. 

“So we’re constantly evaluating and reevaluating what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, what’s the effect it has to constantly improve, and it’s pride in your members. It really is. It’s pride in all our members in the department. And then, as it relates to the Special Operations Team and Technical Rescue, you understand the additional aspect that they’re taking on…the additional role that they’re taking on, and they’re taking it on because they want to,” Wilson said. “…We seek people who are interested in doing this, because we want to have people who want to do it, who have a passion to do it, who have an interest to do it. So that’s the level of people that you’re getting as a part of this Technical Rescue Team: the want, the willing and able…”

More Suffolk Living

Nov./Dec. Suffolk Living

Sept /Oct 2024 Suffolk Living

SPD Special Units Showcase

Skydive Suffolk gives veterans an experience of a lifetime