The 90 degree

summer heat doesn't begin to compare to the temperatures battled by 10

Fayette County firefighting recruits as they went through their week of

burn training.

They faced

300-plus degrees of heat in the three-story concrete oven otherwise known

as Fayette County's "burn building," a fire training facility.

The idea is to throw the newbies in the flames with considerable training

and safety measures in place so they know how to react when faced with

a real-life structure fire.

"It's

like nothing you've ever seen before," says one recruit. That's likely

because it's hard to see through all the smoke, points out another.

"It's

pitch black. You can't see your hand right in front of your face."

They learn

to stay low to the ground, sweeping the area with their arms and tools,

trying to find and rescue victims, in this case a large section of fire

hose.

This isn't

your typical grade school fire drill. For one, the rookies have already

been through six weeks of classroom oriented training, learning the characteristics

of fire and special techniques.

In the burn

building, they get to apply those techniques first hand.

One rookie

firefighter already has a nice blister along his face from where his flame-retardant

hood pulled back for a brief second at the wrong time.

Such scars

are almost a matter of pride with this hearty bunch, as another recruit

shows off a burn scar on his right leg.

The recruits

crawl into the smoking burn building wearing about 40 pounds of gear,

including their breathing apparatus, which lasts for up to 30 minutes.

After the oxygen

tank is depleted, out comes the first crew, looking a bit weary as a replacement

crew enters to fight the flames.

"Out here

you learn how hard you can push yourself," says one recruit.

The physical

training regimen of Capt. Jimmy Hall since day one has played a role in

enhancing the mens' stamina when taking on the burn building.

"Richard

Simmons ain't got nothing on him," joked one recruit.

Hall called

this recruit class "a good group" and while endurance plays

a significant role, he says the most important thing firefighters need

to remember when they enter a burning building is "don't panic."

"It's

about team integrity and staying with your team," Hall said, noting

the importance for firefighters to work close together when entering burning

structures.

"It's

absolutely different in there," Hall said. "The anxiety sets

in."

All is calm

after everybody makes it out of the burn building in one piece after the

final drill of the day. But what convinced these men, ranging in ages

from 19 to 32, to enter the fire service?

"You won't

find a job with as much self-satisfaction as this," says one recruit,

to the agreement of the others.

"You're

doing something worthwhile."

After graduating

from rookie school, these men will work 24 hours on, 48 hours off. And

they'll eventually become EMTs, a requirement in Fayette County, and perhaps

some will go on for their paramedic certification.