1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:29,000
This is our 11th Join Academy.

2
00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:34,000
Join Academy with Wes Fargo in our first attempt with Moorhead, so we're excited about this.

3
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:38,000
It truly now has become a Metro Recruit Academy.

4
00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,000
You guys are going to find out throughout your careers that we regularly work together.

5
00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:46,000
And as Chief Fuller and I decided a couple years ago that we might as well do this together

6
00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,000
because it's just going to be better, we're going to be intermingling,

7
00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,000
we're going to be, we respond next to each other all the way through.

8
00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:57,000
This is something that most fire departments in our region don't get to do.

9
00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,000
The amount of resources that it takes to put this academy on is tremendous.

10
00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,000
That's one of the huge reasons why we actually do this joint academy

11
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:09,000
is because we realize that between both fire departments, all three fire departments now,

12
00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:13,000
the resources we have, we can pull our resources, we can come out with a better product.

13
00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:15,000
When you get out in the field, remember a couple things.

14
00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,000
When somebody calls for help, you are the fire department.

15
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,000
It's not people back in the office.

16
00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:23,000
It's not the rest of the crews that are in the other stations.

17
00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,000
When they see you and when you interact with them, you're the face of the entire fire department.

18
00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,000
You get to form their opinion about what we do each day,

19
00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,000
and you get to make a difference in their life today.

20
00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,000
For this, I was graduated high school here, 2023,

21
00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,000
and after high school didn't really know where I wanted to go,

22
00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,000
so I went to a local college down in the cities

23
00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,000
and started pursuing a degree in fire science there,

24
00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,000
got all my fire certs, and then while I was doing that,

25
00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,000
I was out building in-ground swimming pools,

26
00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,000
and then I happened to get all my certs, and then I started applying places,

27
00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,000
and Fargo just seemed right for me.

28
00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,000
I went to college in East Grand Forks.

29
00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,000
I got my fire degree in fire technology.

30
00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:13,000
I worked at a power sports repair shop in Barnesville that I opened up

31
00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:18,000
and kind of just saw the opportunity and went for it and kind of all worked out.

32
00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:23,000
Originally, I was living in Arizona for about six and a half years,

33
00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,000
and I just moved back here in the winter,

34
00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,000
and I was working for a fastener company in Arizona,

35
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,000
and it wasn't that fun. It wasn't that interesting,

36
00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,000
and I have thought about being a firefighter before,

37
00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:38,000
and I've been encouraged by people to pursue being a firefighter,

38
00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,000
so I came up here. I saw that Fargo Fire was hiring,

39
00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,000
and I said, hey, why not give it a shot before I get too old,

40
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:46,000
see if I can do this.

41
00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,000
I finished this past year at college up in Fargo,

42
00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:54,000
and there with aspirations of pursuing the firefighting,

43
00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,000
I applied last spring, and that brought me to here.

44
00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:03,000
Before this, I managed a barbecue restaurant for five years and did that,

45
00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,000
and then I got involved with the fire department.

46
00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,000
I've always wanted to be in the fire service,

47
00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,000
so I just decided that restaurant industry wasn't for me.

48
00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,000
I decided to get into the fire service.

49
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,000
I went to state fire school.

50
00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,000
I was a volunteer in Mayville, North Dakota.

51
00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,000
I met Captain Worlinger there and did a class with him.

52
00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,000
I started talking about the opportunity of getting hired on

53
00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,000
and the possibility of it, so I applied and figured,

54
00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:30,000
you know, I enjoyed doing it so much, I might as well do it as a career

55
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,000
and hopefully stick around and do what I enjoy.

56
00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,000
So before the academy, I was with a daycare.

57
00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,000
I worked in a daycare in West Fargo,

58
00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,000
and I did that part-time for a handful of years.

59
00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,000
I got involved in the fire academy earlier this spring

60
00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:49,000
when I saw an ad in the newspaper for the hiring of new firefighters.

61
00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,000
So I thought I'd join, made it through the hiring process,

62
00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,000
and now into the academy.

63
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,000
I've always wanted to be a firefighter.

64
00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,000
My grandpa was a firefighter in Henderson, Nevada,

65
00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,000
which is just outside of Vegas for like 25 years or so.

66
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,000
So I knew what I always wanted to do.

67
00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,000
I was in my first year of college.

68
00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,000
I was in Dickinson going to school,

69
00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:10,000
and then I did two years of school in Santa Maria, California,

70
00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:12,000
and then I was going to go back and finish up school.

71
00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,000
Ultimately decided I was ready to join the fire service,

72
00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,000
so worked some underground construction for a little bit,

73
00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,000
then worked in a tire shop a little bit while I was going to EMT school

74
00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,000
at the same time, and then, yeah.

75
00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:27,000
Before this, I was getting trained in to be a restaurant manager in Fargo,

76
00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,000
West Fargo called, and just accepted.

77
00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,000
Before this, I worked in the food industry for a long time.

78
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,000
I also was worked at a couple different universities in Minnesota.

79
00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:41,000
The way I got involved was that I've always kind of looked at the fire departments,

80
00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,000
though I never made that jump, I guess you would say,

81
00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,000
so I wanted to try something different and see how that worked out.

82
00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,000
I am on the Detroit Lakes Fire Department.

83
00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,000
That's how I kind of got involved in this area

84
00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,000
as far as upper central part of the state.

85
00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:00,000
My dad was a full-time fireman in St. Paul in the Twin Cities for 25 years,

86
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,000
so I grew up around culture.

87
00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:07,000
Before going through the academy, I was in the military for eight years,

88
00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,000
and I was around that team aspect.

89
00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:18,000
Music

90
00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,000
95 just seems really boring.

91
00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,000
I would hate to sit at a desk every day.

92
00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,000
It's almost like a calling, like there's so much to attract you to the fire service.

93
00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:30,000
I grew up in sports, so I like to be with that kind of team mentality and whatnot.

94
00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,000
Kind of one of those things where it just felt right, so.

95
00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,000
I wanted to do something to help the community,

96
00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,000
and I wanted to do something that would like keep me out of the office in a way.

97
00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,000
I wanted to do something a little more physical.

98
00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:44,000
I wanted to do something that I don't know what will happen exactly next.

99
00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,000
I want to be able to come to work and try something new every time,

100
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,000
and that's one of the great aspects of the fire service.

101
00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,000
It's been good, definitely.

102
00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,000
A lot of it goes back to our daily job.

103
00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:58,000
We're going to be in stressful situations, high intensity sometimes,

104
00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,000
and you're going to have lots of things going on in your mind

105
00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:06,000
and having to put all those together and perform your job to the best of your ability.

106
00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,000
It's been a reawakening for me.

107
00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,000
I went through a lot of it with the military,

108
00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,000
so getting back into the swing of things has definitely been a challenge,

109
00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,000
but a good challenge, and it got me right back to where I was.

110
00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:24,000
I'm a hands-on learner, and pushing myself is one thing I like when other guys are depending on you,

111
00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:28,000
and like with the captains, they're really pushing you in our evolutions,

112
00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:32,000
and for me, it's good to see that and push it to your limits.

113
00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,000
Reading about something and talking about it in a classroom setting,

114
00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:38,000
you get a lot of knowledge from that,

115
00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:44,000
but then actually going out and doing it and applying that process in real life,

116
00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,000
that has been really helpful, so you understand how it works,

117
00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,000
and then you go out and do it.

118
00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,000
For certain things, there's different ways to get the same result.

119
00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:57,000
That's been really nice in that if I don't like the one way I was taught,

120
00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,000
well, maybe there's another way that clicks easier in my brain compared to the next guy,

121
00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,000
so that's been really helpful for learning all these different types of skills,

122
00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,000
starting from zero to a hundred.

123
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:12,000
A lot of people bring a different view on things of like,

124
00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,000
hey, maybe we could do it this way, or no, we shouldn't do it that way.

125
00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,000
I've tried that, so really just having people with more experience than me.

126
00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:24,000
A lot of us have gotten pretty close throughout this academy, so that's been pretty cool.

127
00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,000
The best part about this profession is that you get to learn hands-on,

128
00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,000
and I'm a very hands-on learner,

129
00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,000
and I think talking about something over and over, one thing,

130
00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:36,000
but when you're able to actually do it and physically do it with your hands,

131
00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,000
it's just very easily obtainable the way you can learn,

132
00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,000
and you can retain knowledge that way.

133
00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:45,000
In my aspect, I think it's very nice that you can pretty much relay everything

134
00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,000
that you're learning in the book hands-on, which is very nice.

135
00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,000
I've seen my confidence grow, which is a big thing for me,

136
00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:56,000
but one of the things that I will take away from this is just being a part of a team again.

137
00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:00,000
I played sports my entire life growing up, and now you get back into this,

138
00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,000
and I'm 32 years old.

139
00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,000
It's been a while since I was in high school sports and stuff,

140
00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,000
and now it feels like you're just a member of a team all over again,

141
00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,000
and the relationships and the camaraderie you got with these guys.

142
00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,000
Learning from all of the different agencies, from West Fargo, Fargo, Moorhead,

143
00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,000
the different captains, they teach you the same.

144
00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:23,000
A lot of the information, the material is all very similar,

145
00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:27,000
but each organization does have a little bit different specific way

146
00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,000
on how they might approach a problem.

147
00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,000
Firefighting is a very exhausting job.

148
00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:37,000
It's stressful, it's strenuous,

149
00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:41,000
and you can get exhausted quickly, so it's important to conserve energy

150
00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,000
so you don't get burned out too fast.

151
00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:47,000
Each captain has their own way of coaching you.

152
00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,000
There's all these little tips that they always share,

153
00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,000
and even though the material is the same,

154
00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,000
it's nice to be able to talk with somebody from Moorhead

155
00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,000
who has a little bit different perspective on how they would approach a problem

156
00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,000
or how they would do something as simple as pulling a hose.

157
00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,000
The most rewarding part of the academy is finding out

158
00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,000
how much more I'm capable of, but probably more than that,

159
00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:11,000
just all the guys that I've gotten to go through the academy with.

160
00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,000
We've gotten to be close with all of us, one another,

161
00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,000
pretty good, solid group of guys.

162
00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,000
It gets tough, but you just got to keep pushing through it.

163
00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:22,000
You just got to remember what the end goal is,

164
00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,000
is get to be on shift, and it's going to be the best job ever.

165
00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,000
Once you get on shift, you come every day with a good attitude

166
00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:29,000
and keep on pushing.

167
00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,000
I'm definitely looking forward to getting out in the community

168
00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,000
and seeing how everything works in the community,

169
00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,000
how all the different entities come together.

170
00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:42,000
I'm excited to work with all the guys who have been on

171
00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:44,000
and be able to gain some of their knowledge

172
00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:47,000
and just get out and do the job.

173
00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:48,000
I'm excited.