by Jerry Wilson, P.I.O.
posted May 21, 2008
) Photo by Jerry Wilson In the top row, Jeff Vinyard, Becky Anderson, Jamye Best. In the bottom row, Corey Pauley, father and son Scott A. Murray and Scott B. Murray. Not shown is Ethan Wright. Click to enlarge. |
Scott B. Murray, 19, joined the volunteer fire department and later convinced his father, Scott A. Murray to join him. Forty-three year old Scott A. said at first his family thought he had lost it. After all, he is 43-years-old, has a wife and three kids, and holds a full time job with TVA in Facilities Maintenance. When asked why he would put himself through such rigorous training, he was quoted as saying, “How often do you get to do things with your son and help people along the way.” Scott B. is enrolled at Chattanooga State in the Fire Sciences department and is also employed at Zaxby’s in Ooltewah.
In addition to the father and son team, Ms. Best and Ms. Anderson, the other Highway 58 rookies included Corey Pauley, Jeff Vinyard and Ethan Wright. The Firefighter 1 class consists of training two nights a week, with some Saturday’s thrown in, for nine months, for a total of 290 hours of training.
The group of volunteer firefighters who graduated on May 13, are the first group of volunteers to be certified nationally by the International Fire Service Training Association.
One by one, the rookies agreed that the hardest part of the training was the obstacle course with full firefighting gear. This consists of wearing boots, pants, jacket and air tanks and crawling through a maze of tangled wiring with tape over their masks. Scaling a ladder in full turnout gear was among the other physical challenges. Tuesday night, they turned in their yellow rookie helmets for the standard black helmet with the fire department logo.
Highway 58 Fire Department Chief C. R. Harris, said it was important to recognize the hard work and accomplishments of the rookies.
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