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‘They risk their lives every day’ - Oswego residents get an up close look at what it means to be a firefighter · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: They risk their lives every day. Oswego residents get an
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  Speaker 1: up close look at what it means to be a firefighter.
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  Speaker 1: Written by Eric Shelkoff, this article is being read by
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  Speaker 1: an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. Christmasik now
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  Speaker 1: knows more about the dangers the members of the Oswego
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  Speaker 1: Fire Protection District encounter on a regular basis. As part
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  Speaker 1: of the six week Oswego Fire Protection Districts Citizen Fire Academy,
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  Speaker 1: the Oswego resident learned the challengers firefighters face. Wanted to
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  Speaker 1: see the workings and what these men and women do,
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  Speaker 1: Thomasik said in talking about why he wanted to participate
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  Speaker 1: in the Citizen Fire Academy. They're just not appreciated, I
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  Speaker 1: think as much as they should be. They risk their
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  Speaker 1: lives every day. During the last class, on May fourteenth,
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  Speaker 1: Tomasik participated in a vehicle extrication exercise along with learning
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  Speaker 1: how fast a fire can spread. Even with being behind
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  Speaker 1: the scenes, you could still feel the heat, he said,
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  Speaker 1: It's crazy how fast it can spread. As part of
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  Speaker 1: the exercise, Oswego resident Ragu Shrinovasen dressed as a firefighter
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  Speaker 1: while working to extinguish the fire. You can feel the
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  Speaker 1: power of the fire, he said in talking about the experience,
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  Speaker 1: I did not expect it to go up like that.
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  Speaker 1: Firefighters put their lives at risk. For us, firefighting is
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  Speaker 1: not for the faint of heart. This is the first
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  Speaker 1: year the Oswego Fire Protection District has held a Citizen
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  Speaker 1: Fire Academy. Our people face unique and dynamic challenges each
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  Speaker 1: and every single day, said Joe Johnson, the district's division
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  Speaker 1: Chief of Training. And most of the community doesn't see that,
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  Speaker 1: and we wanted to provide that opportunity for them. As
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  Speaker 1: part of the academy, members became trained to be certified
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  Speaker 1: in cardiopulmonary resuscitation CPR, an emergency treatment that's done when
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  Speaker 1: someone's breathing or heartbeat has stopped. We wanted to ultimately
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  Speaker 1: give them something that might make a difference in the community,
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  Speaker 1: Johnson said. We also talked about home safety and fire extinguishers.
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  Speaker 1: We wanted to give them some tools they could take home.
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  Speaker 1: Hopefully they will never have to use them, but we
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  Speaker 1: wanted to give them some tools. The district hopes to
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  Speaker 1: offer the Citizen Fire Academy once a year. It offers
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  Speaker 1: a similar program for elected officials in the fall,