A few weeks ago I flew to Nashville Tennessee to take the physical portion of the recruitment process to try and get on the Nashville Fire Department. I got up Monday morning and drove to the fire academy where I checked in to take the physical portion of the test. The experience started out by having us candidates stand around in the weight room where we put our turnouts and SCBA on. Then we all stand at the door and wait to have our name called to go out and run the course. The first station is an 85 foot ladder climb. This part of the test isn't timed, but they want you to do it under 5 minutes. After the ladder climb you head over to the burn tower. The next section is timed and you have to complete it all in under 6 minutes to pass the test. You start out by picking up a high rise pack and go up 3 flights of stairs and then back down, touching every step. Then you place the high rise pack back on the rack and head outside where you pick up a hose and pull it 200 feet. Then you go across the lot where you pick up an exhaust fan and place it on a platform 58 inches high and then back on the ground. Then your last station is the body drag. You pick up the harness and drag a body that weighs 185 pounds a total of 50 feet.
After running through all the stations, I completed the ladder climb in 2 minutes and 49 seconds and finished the timed course in 1 minute and 59 seconds !!
Here are a few pictures of what the course would have looked like if I would have taken pictures.
