December 8 – “Testing Day”

Saturday was yet another fire department first for me.  I went up to Central Station to watch the agility testing for prospective fire fighters.  Nathan had told me that the event would start at 7 a.m.  I was puttering around the house when I suddenly remembered about the testing.  It was already a little after seven.  I hustled into faster gear, poured a cup of coffee for the road, and, after my experience with the cold weather the day before, grabbed two coats so I could layer if necessary.  As it turned out the 7:00 start time was for those who would be setting up the course.  I didn’t miss too much of that.  The actual applicants didn’t start arriving until after eight. 

Apparently there were over forty who had taken the written part of the test.  Only 28 of those passed.  Now I have never taken it, so I can’t really speak from experience, but I always heard the civil service exam was not that difficult.  Of course any test is a highly stressful experience.  That I have plenty of personal experience in.  But 28 passed.  I’ll focus on them.  Of the 28, 27 of them were present and ready to begin on time.  I heard the one missing had car trouble and arrived too late to check in and have his pre-test medical exam.  That had to be tough for him.  He looked plenty strong enough to handle it.  Hope he tries again next time Galveston hires.  When I left the station there were still four or five guys left to try out, and only seven or eight had passed up to that point.  Those seven or eight looked like fairly strong candidates, though. 

The test itself was fascinating.  Well, to me, at least.  But then I didn’t have to take it.  I guess I could have.  A lot of the fire fighters there to run the stations and cover fire calls asked if I was going to give it a try.  I assured them I was just there to observe this time.  After all, I wouldn’t want to show up any of the youngsters.  And after watching the first guy go through, I was assured beyond any doubt that I would be staying an observer.  My rheumatoid arthritis and neck surgeries and spinal stenosis all cried out in fear and trembling at just the thought of attempting what these candidates were tackling. 

First order of business, after standing around in the cold for almost an hour, was check in with Trish and the preliminary medical evaluation.  That just meant a blood pressure and heart rate check so they could do some comparing after the test was over.  Each candidate was assigned a number, and then returned to waiting in the cold, until Chief Winn led us through the course to show what would be expected.  The test itself had eight parts.  Doesn’t sound like much, but when taken all together, it was more than enough to show what these men (and one woman) had in them.  One event which is usually part of the test had to be canceled.  Climbing one of the tall truck ladders was deemed too dangerous because predictions indicated we might have wind gusts of up to 30 miles per hour.  And remember, the temperature at the time was already down to thirty-nine degrees.  Not a pleasant work environment.  Here are the events as I remember them.  There are probably technical names for what they were doing, but I sure don’t know them.  I’m just trying to describe what I saw.  Oh, and all the activities had to be performed wearing fire gloves, a helmet, and a breathing pack. 

1.  Carry a rolled-up hose up a flight of stairs and back down – twice.

2.  Something called a Keiser sled.  The candidates used a sledge hammer to knock a big iron girder past a set mark on the sled in less than 30 seconds. 

3.  Go upstairs, then raise and lower an object in a shaft using hand over hand technique both ways.

4.  Drag a dummy 40 feet and back within the set time limit.

5.  Lift a 75 pound ladder off the truck, set it on the ground, and put it back.  One of our fire fighters told me that was over half of her own body weight.  Gave me a little perspective there.

6.  Do the Keiser sled again.

7.  Pick up a charged water line and drag it 150 feet.

8.  Repeat #1.  This replaced the ladder climb.

And it all had to be completed in less than nine minutes.  With no running allowed in any event except number seven.  Oh, and the chief clearly pointed out that the large trash can at the end of the course was there for a reason.  He didn’t want to have to wade through anyone’s breakfast. 

I guess they each had different things that were strengths and weaknesses, but from what I saw, it was the Keiser sled that really gave them fits.  My neck aches just thinking about the pounding that it took to move that iron girder.  Chief Winn did an excellent job putting the whole thing together, and all of the fire fighters who had been called in to help run the event were consummate professionals in their dealings with the candidates.  So that’s two days in a row old Chappy has been impressed by department activities.  Wonder what today will bring …

James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Father, thank you for your protection of the ones who did the testing yesterday.  Encourage those who didn’t make it this time to keep on trying.  Give patience to those who now fact the application process.  And give wisdom to the chiefs as they determine who will be offered positions.  Amen.