On July 26th at 0700 hours, 24 teenagers, dressed in brand-new, blue, class B uniforms, reported for duty at Murrieta Fire Station 1. The group, made up of 21 young men and 3 young women, gave up a week of their summer vacation to see if they were cut out to become the next generation of firefighters. They looked ready and a little nervous too.
The Murrieta Fire Department has been training explorers since 1995 and put on the week-long academy for nearly 5 years. The requirements, some written some conveyed, are that explorers must be between 14-21 years of age, curious about the fire service and willing to work hard.
“It’s a learning-for-life program. We want to give them options to think about and see different things and grow,” said one of the academy instructors, Dean Hale, a firefighter paramedic. “We teach them what a firefighter does but this program also teaches community development, leadership skills, how to work as a team, and gives kids a focus on something they’ve never really thought of before.”
The explorers are expected to purchase their own uniforms, boots, and a few other things needed for the program. The uniform isn’t cheap; the cost is upwards of $300.00. Instructors often pitch in out of their own pocket and some people in the community donate to the academy to make sure nobody is ever turned away if they can’t afford it. The instructors are all full-time Murrieta Fire Department employees who volunteer to teach and mentor the group of young people.
“What’s important for me is to teach that you can have anything you want in this world if you work hard for it, and I believe it 100 percent. That’s my motivation and if I can help them see that, that’s my reward,” said Captain Richard Curran, coordinator and head academy instructor.
The group of 24 students was diverse, and while a minority at this fire academy, the three young women never felt less than or like one of the boys either. They were simply a part of the team.
“Everyone is treated the same here, just because you’re a boy or a girl, you’re no different,” said Jessica Rubalcava adding that if there’s any girl out there who’s worried about not being accepted, they should, “just do it” and see for themselves.
The instructors say females are often at the top of the class, not because of their gender but because they want to succeed.
“Girls are pretty tough, they stick in there pretty good, actually. The girls try harder, because they feel like there’s a disadvantage, but in reality they actually do as well as the boys,” said Curran. “Respect is earned by doing, and I think the girls come in here and show they boys they can do everything that the boys can do, so there’s not a disadvantage there.”
The academy can be the end of their firefighting experience or the beginning of the Explorer Program and career. If the explorers decide they want to continue after the week of condensed training, they’re assigned to a fire station, called a post, where they learn the job in more detail.
“My dad says, every morning, when he was a firefighter, that he’d wake up and say, ‘This is the best job ever,’ and now going through the academy, I can see what he’s talking about.” says Richard Christman, son of recently retired Murrieta Fire Chief, Paul Christman, adding that after completing the academy, he was more certain than ever that firefighting was the job for him.
Explorers are also expected to maintain a 2.0 grade average to stay in the program but they’re never cast out if they’re not making the grade.
Curran points to one explorer who was already at his post assignment and in danger of not graduating high school. The young man, they discovered had a pretty tough life at home but loved the days he spent at his post. The crew asked him to come to the fire station after school and do his homework. They tutored him and he graduated.
“I don’t think he would’ve made it if he hadn’t had this group behind him, supporting him,” said Curran.
For the explorers, the 10-hour day went by pretty quickly, as every minute was packed with learning and physical activities. A typical day was not so typical.
In the morning they had role call and inspection. They’d line up and get evaluated by an instructor, and if any of them weren’t in proper uniform or it didn’t look neat, they got a demerit. A demerit meant 5 push-ups and some racked up quite a few.
“It’s a paramilitary organization, in the fact that there’s structure, there’s a chain of command that everybody has to follow,” said Hale. “That’s unique about the youth today, they don’t understand respect for rank, they don’t understand respect for people in different aspects and so they come out of here with that respect.”
Following inspection the explorers would change into workout clothes for “PT” or physical training. They were expected to perform strenuous, physical, old-school exercises including: stretching, jumping jacks, 4-mile runs, push ups, fire hose pulling and “burpies” (going from a squat to a push-up, to squat then jumping up). This seemed to be the toughest part of the academy. When explorers were asked if there was an instructor that made it even tougher on them, they all giggled nervously and looked towards the direction of Engineer Mike Macalinao, and because none of them could pronounce his last name they simply called him, “Engineer Mike”. Among other things, Macalinao led PT.
“He said this is nothing compared to the real academy, this is just like we’re below dirt,” said Explorer Randy Yon. “He’s the meanest but he’s also very nice and is there for us when we need him.”
Explorer Yon may have added the last part of that sentence because “Engineer Mike” was in the room when he was being interviewed. From the stories, Macalinao’s training style was somewhere between the characters Mr. Miyagi, the wise sensei from “Karate Kid” and Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, the drill instructor from “Full Metal Jacket.”
“They have to clean dishes, they have to wash cars, they have to clean house, do laundry, vacuum, cook, it’s not all the guts and glory of putting out fires,” said Macalinao. “I use that example all the time, why did Daniel Son always complain about wax on wax off and the kids know it, so there’s a reason why we teach them to use the hose to wash-off the cars, it’s very basic, the garden hose is the same concept as a fire hose.”
His tough persona seemed to have purpose and for a brief moment, Macalinao showed his gentler side.
“I love these kids–all of them. I care for them deeply and to me I really want to see every single one of them succeed,” said Macalinao adding, “that’s why I push them so hard.”
After PT, the tired, yet excited group moved on to a couple of hours of sitting at a desk learning things like the principles of fire fighting, CPR, and first aid. They were all CPR certified at the end of the program. After classroom time, it was on to hands-on training, which included real-life scenarios, like search and rescue. In the search and rescue exercise, explorers were blindfolded, donned turnouts, masks and breathing apparatus and were partnered up. Two by two they were asked to enter a the oversized cemented garage, where hose was laid out like a maze and told to find a downed firefighter. The hose was their lifeline, because they were blindfolded, it was their way in and out of the “burning building”. Besides the difficulty, it was nearly 100 degrees that day. Despite the heat, bulky uniform and heavy tank, most of them did pretty well as first timers.
Curran said that after a week of hard work some of them seemed to walk a little taller and others speak with a little more confidence, but all of them came to respect the job of a firefighter and each other a lot more. All 24 Explorers who showed up on day one were also there on the last day, which doesn’t always happen. All of the instructors described this group as particularly strong in the area of teamwork because they were supportive and encouraging towards their fellow explorers. Those that finished physical challenges with ease would often support and cheer on those that were at that “can’t do it” point and that made the academy instructors very proud.
“Whether they move on and get a job in the fire service isn’t even that important for me, it’s more that they move on and be good people in this life,” said Curran.
By Kitty Alvarado
Valley News Staff
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