WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:29.000 This is our 11th Join Academy. 00:29.000 --> 00:34.000 Join Academy with Wes Fargo in our first attempt with Moorhead, so we're excited about this. 00:34.000 --> 00:38.000 It truly now has become a Metro Recruit Academy. 00:38.000 --> 00:42.000 You guys are going to find out throughout your careers that we regularly work together. 00:42.000 --> 00:46.000 And as Chief Fuller and I decided a couple years ago that we might as well do this together 00:46.000 --> 00:49.000 because it's just going to be better, we're going to be intermingling, 00:49.000 --> 00:52.000 we're going to be, we respond next to each other all the way through. 00:52.000 --> 00:57.000 This is something that most fire departments in our region don't get to do. 00:57.000 --> 01:01.000 The amount of resources that it takes to put this academy on is tremendous. 01:01.000 --> 01:04.000 That's one of the huge reasons why we actually do this joint academy 01:04.000 --> 01:09.000 is because we realize that between both fire departments, all three fire departments now, 01:09.000 --> 01:13.000 the resources we have, we can pull our resources, we can come out with a better product. 01:13.000 --> 01:15.000 When you get out in the field, remember a couple things. 01:15.000 --> 01:18.000 When somebody calls for help, you are the fire department. 01:18.000 --> 01:20.000 It's not people back in the office. 01:20.000 --> 01:23.000 It's not the rest of the crews that are in the other stations. 01:23.000 --> 01:26.000 When they see you and when you interact with them, you're the face of the entire fire department. 01:26.000 --> 01:29.000 You get to form their opinion about what we do each day, 01:29.000 --> 01:32.000 and you get to make a difference in their life today. 01:41.000 --> 01:45.000 For this, I was graduated high school here, 2023, 01:45.000 --> 01:48.000 and after high school didn't really know where I wanted to go, 01:48.000 --> 01:51.000 so I went to a local college down in the cities 01:51.000 --> 01:54.000 and started pursuing a degree in fire science there, 01:54.000 --> 01:56.000 got all my fire certs, and then while I was doing that, 01:56.000 --> 01:58.000 I was out building in-ground swimming pools, 01:58.000 --> 02:01.000 and then I happened to get all my certs, and then I started applying places, 02:01.000 --> 02:03.000 and Fargo just seemed right for me. 02:03.000 --> 02:06.000 I went to college in East Grand Forks. 02:06.000 --> 02:09.000 I got my fire degree in fire technology. 02:09.000 --> 02:13.000 I worked at a power sports repair shop in Barnesville that I opened up 02:13.000 --> 02:18.000 and kind of just saw the opportunity and went for it and kind of all worked out. 02:18.000 --> 02:23.000 Originally, I was living in Arizona for about six and a half years, 02:23.000 --> 02:25.000 and I just moved back here in the winter, 02:25.000 --> 02:28.000 and I was working for a fastener company in Arizona, 02:28.000 --> 02:31.000 and it wasn't that fun. It wasn't that interesting, 02:31.000 --> 02:34.000 and I have thought about being a firefighter before, 02:34.000 --> 02:38.000 and I've been encouraged by people to pursue being a firefighter, 02:38.000 --> 02:42.000 so I came up here. I saw that Fargo Fire was hiring, 02:42.000 --> 02:45.000 and I said, hey, why not give it a shot before I get too old, 02:45.000 --> 02:46.000 see if I can do this. 02:46.000 --> 02:50.000 I finished this past year at college up in Fargo, 02:50.000 --> 02:54.000 and there with aspirations of pursuing the firefighting, 02:54.000 --> 02:57.000 I applied last spring, and that brought me to here. 02:57.000 --> 03:03.000 Before this, I managed a barbecue restaurant for five years and did that, 03:03.000 --> 03:05.000 and then I got involved with the fire department. 03:05.000 --> 03:07.000 I've always wanted to be in the fire service, 03:07.000 --> 03:10.000 so I just decided that restaurant industry wasn't for me. 03:10.000 --> 03:12.000 I decided to get into the fire service. 03:12.000 --> 03:14.000 I went to state fire school. 03:14.000 --> 03:17.000 I was a volunteer in Mayville, North Dakota. 03:17.000 --> 03:20.000 I met Captain Worlinger there and did a class with him. 03:20.000 --> 03:23.000 I started talking about the opportunity of getting hired on 03:23.000 --> 03:26.000 and the possibility of it, so I applied and figured, 03:26.000 --> 03:30.000 you know, I enjoyed doing it so much, I might as well do it as a career 03:30.000 --> 03:33.000 and hopefully stick around and do what I enjoy. 03:33.000 --> 03:36.000 So before the academy, I was with a daycare. 03:36.000 --> 03:38.000 I worked in a daycare in West Fargo, 03:38.000 --> 03:41.000 and I did that part-time for a handful of years. 03:41.000 --> 03:44.000 I got involved in the fire academy earlier this spring 03:44.000 --> 03:49.000 when I saw an ad in the newspaper for the hiring of new firefighters. 03:49.000 --> 03:51.000 So I thought I'd join, made it through the hiring process, 03:51.000 --> 03:53.000 and now into the academy. 03:53.000 --> 03:55.000 I've always wanted to be a firefighter. 03:55.000 --> 03:58.000 My grandpa was a firefighter in Henderson, Nevada, 03:58.000 --> 04:00.000 which is just outside of Vegas for like 25 years or so. 04:00.000 --> 04:02.000 So I knew what I always wanted to do. 04:02.000 --> 04:04.000 I was in my first year of college. 04:04.000 --> 04:06.000 I was in Dickinson going to school, 04:06.000 --> 04:10.000 and then I did two years of school in Santa Maria, California, 04:10.000 --> 04:12.000 and then I was going to go back and finish up school. 04:12.000 --> 04:15.000 Ultimately decided I was ready to join the fire service, 04:15.000 --> 04:17.000 so worked some underground construction for a little bit, 04:17.000 --> 04:20.000 then worked in a tire shop a little bit while I was going to EMT school 04:20.000 --> 04:22.000 at the same time, and then, yeah. 04:22.000 --> 04:27.000 Before this, I was getting trained in to be a restaurant manager in Fargo, 04:27.000 --> 04:30.000 West Fargo called, and just accepted. 04:30.000 --> 04:33.000 Before this, I worked in the food industry for a long time. 04:33.000 --> 04:37.000 I also was worked at a couple different universities in Minnesota. 04:37.000 --> 04:41.000 The way I got involved was that I've always kind of looked at the fire departments, 04:41.000 --> 04:44.000 though I never made that jump, I guess you would say, 04:44.000 --> 04:47.000 so I wanted to try something different and see how that worked out. 04:47.000 --> 04:50.000 I am on the Detroit Lakes Fire Department. 04:50.000 --> 04:53.000 That's how I kind of got involved in this area 04:53.000 --> 04:56.000 as far as upper central part of the state. 04:56.000 --> 05:00.000 My dad was a full-time fireman in St. Paul in the Twin Cities for 25 years, 05:00.000 --> 05:02.000 so I grew up around culture. 05:02.000 --> 05:07.000 Before going through the academy, I was in the military for eight years, 05:07.000 --> 05:09.000 and I was around that team aspect. 05:09.000 --> 05:18.000 Music 05:18.000 --> 05:20.000 95 just seems really boring. 05:20.000 --> 05:23.000 I would hate to sit at a desk every day. 05:23.000 --> 05:26.000 It's almost like a calling, like there's so much to attract you to the fire service. 05:26.000 --> 05:30.000 I grew up in sports, so I like to be with that kind of team mentality and whatnot. 05:30.000 --> 05:33.000 Kind of one of those things where it just felt right, so. 05:33.000 --> 05:35.000 I wanted to do something to help the community, 05:35.000 --> 05:38.000 and I wanted to do something that would like keep me out of the office in a way. 05:38.000 --> 05:40.000 I wanted to do something a little more physical. 05:40.000 --> 05:44.000 I wanted to do something that I don't know what will happen exactly next. 05:44.000 --> 05:48.000 I want to be able to come to work and try something new every time, 05:48.000 --> 05:50.000 and that's one of the great aspects of the fire service. 05:50.000 --> 05:52.000 It's been good, definitely. 05:52.000 --> 05:54.000 A lot of it goes back to our daily job. 05:54.000 --> 05:58.000 We're going to be in stressful situations, high intensity sometimes, 05:58.000 --> 06:01.000 and you're going to have lots of things going on in your mind 06:01.000 --> 06:06.000 and having to put all those together and perform your job to the best of your ability. 06:06.000 --> 06:08.000 It's been a reawakening for me. 06:08.000 --> 06:11.000 I went through a lot of it with the military, 06:11.000 --> 06:14.000 so getting back into the swing of things has definitely been a challenge, 06:14.000 --> 06:18.000 but a good challenge, and it got me right back to where I was. 06:18.000 --> 06:24.000 I'm a hands-on learner, and pushing myself is one thing I like when other guys are depending on you, 06:24.000 --> 06:28.000 and like with the captains, they're really pushing you in our evolutions, 06:28.000 --> 06:32.000 and for me, it's good to see that and push it to your limits. 06:32.000 --> 06:36.000 Reading about something and talking about it in a classroom setting, 06:36.000 --> 06:38.000 you get a lot of knowledge from that, 06:38.000 --> 06:44.000 but then actually going out and doing it and applying that process in real life, 06:44.000 --> 06:47.000 that has been really helpful, so you understand how it works, 06:47.000 --> 06:49.000 and then you go out and do it. 06:49.000 --> 06:53.000 For certain things, there's different ways to get the same result. 06:53.000 --> 06:57.000 That's been really nice in that if I don't like the one way I was taught, 06:57.000 --> 07:01.000 well, maybe there's another way that clicks easier in my brain compared to the next guy, 07:01.000 --> 07:05.000 so that's been really helpful for learning all these different types of skills, 07:05.000 --> 07:08.000 starting from zero to a hundred. 07:08.000 --> 07:12.000 A lot of people bring a different view on things of like, 07:12.000 --> 07:15.000 hey, maybe we could do it this way, or no, we shouldn't do it that way. 07:15.000 --> 07:19.000 I've tried that, so really just having people with more experience than me. 07:19.000 --> 07:24.000 A lot of us have gotten pretty close throughout this academy, so that's been pretty cool. 07:24.000 --> 07:27.000 The best part about this profession is that you get to learn hands-on, 07:27.000 --> 07:29.000 and I'm a very hands-on learner, 07:29.000 --> 07:32.000 and I think talking about something over and over, one thing, 07:32.000 --> 07:36.000 but when you're able to actually do it and physically do it with your hands, 07:36.000 --> 07:39.000 it's just very easily obtainable the way you can learn, 07:39.000 --> 07:41.000 and you can retain knowledge that way. 07:41.000 --> 07:45.000 In my aspect, I think it's very nice that you can pretty much relay everything 07:45.000 --> 07:48.000 that you're learning in the book hands-on, which is very nice. 07:48.000 --> 07:51.000 I've seen my confidence grow, which is a big thing for me, 07:51.000 --> 07:56.000 but one of the things that I will take away from this is just being a part of a team again. 07:56.000 --> 08:00.000 I played sports my entire life growing up, and now you get back into this, 08:00.000 --> 08:02.000 and I'm 32 years old. 08:02.000 --> 08:05.000 It's been a while since I was in high school sports and stuff, 08:05.000 --> 08:08.000 and now it feels like you're just a member of a team all over again, 08:08.000 --> 08:11.000 and the relationships and the camaraderie you got with these guys. 08:11.000 --> 08:15.000 Learning from all of the different agencies, from West Fargo, Fargo, Moorhead, 08:15.000 --> 08:18.000 the different captains, they teach you the same. 08:18.000 --> 08:23.000 A lot of the information, the material is all very similar, 08:23.000 --> 08:27.000 but each organization does have a little bit different specific way 08:27.000 --> 08:29.000 on how they might approach a problem. 08:29.000 --> 08:32.000 Firefighting is a very exhausting job. 08:32.000 --> 08:37.000 It's stressful, it's strenuous, 08:37.000 --> 08:41.000 and you can get exhausted quickly, so it's important to conserve energy 08:41.000 --> 08:43.000 so you don't get burned out too fast. 08:43.000 --> 08:47.000 Each captain has their own way of coaching you. 08:47.000 --> 08:49.000 There's all these little tips that they always share, 08:49.000 --> 08:51.000 and even though the material is the same, 08:51.000 --> 08:54.000 it's nice to be able to talk with somebody from Moorhead 08:54.000 --> 08:57.000 who has a little bit different perspective on how they would approach a problem 08:57.000 --> 09:00.000 or how they would do something as simple as pulling a hose. 09:00.000 --> 09:04.000 The most rewarding part of the academy is finding out 09:04.000 --> 09:07.000 how much more I'm capable of, but probably more than that, 09:07.000 --> 09:11.000 just all the guys that I've gotten to go through the academy with. 09:11.000 --> 09:14.000 We've gotten to be close with all of us, one another, 09:14.000 --> 09:17.000 pretty good, solid group of guys. 09:17.000 --> 09:20.000 It gets tough, but you just got to keep pushing through it. 09:20.000 --> 09:22.000 You just got to remember what the end goal is, 09:22.000 --> 09:25.000 is get to be on shift, and it's going to be the best job ever. 09:25.000 --> 09:28.000 Once you get on shift, you come every day with a good attitude 09:28.000 --> 09:29.000 and keep on pushing. 09:29.000 --> 09:32.000 I'm definitely looking forward to getting out in the community 09:32.000 --> 09:36.000 and seeing how everything works in the community, 09:36.000 --> 09:38.000 how all the different entities come together. 09:38.000 --> 09:42.000 I'm excited to work with all the guys who have been on 09:42.000 --> 09:44.000 and be able to gain some of their knowledge 09:44.000 --> 09:47.000 and just get out and do the job. 09:47.000 --> 09:48.000 I'm excited.