Program Puts FL Firefighters Through Rigorous 48-Hour Training

PANAMA CITY, FL—The Georgia F.L.A.M.E.S. came down to Panama City on Saturday to put together a rigorous training course that is usually only done in Chatsworth, Georgia.

The training course goes over the basics that is taught in firefighter academy, but it is done constantly over a 48-hour time span. It's a course that gives firefighters confidence so that when faced with adversity, they can overcome it.

Charles Baxter, Fire Chief in Chatsworth, Georgia, was one of the originators of this training course back in 2004.

"I had been promoted to the position of training chief at my department and had some really young, really aggressive, really good fireman that didn't have the ability to be challenged in training," Baxter said. "So we decided if we can't find it we'll put it together ourselves."

The intent was to only hold it that one time, but when word got out about the course they continued to do it. The F.L.A.M.E.S. course has 29 classes (including one for this weekend).

The firefighters get small breaks in between to hydrate, eat and get medically examined to make sure they can continue. One of the instructors, Panama City Beach Battalion Chief Justin Busch, was one who had that experience.

"I remember going up to Georgia with my buddy Craig (Robsartes) and I hurt my knee during the course. It swelled up like a balloon," Busch said. "They showed me the itinerary for the rest of the course and said I couldn't do it."

Something happened after he was told by the medical staff at the course he couldn't go any longer.

"Craig told me that if I was done he was done, too, and I told him to keep going," Busch said. "He (Craig) said that we came in together, we're going to finish together and it still hits me in the feels, and it has been almost a decade."

That is one of the overarching themes of this course. It is rigorous and it will push the firefighters to their limits, but teamwork is essential.

One of the courses is a relay race that requires the firefighters to roll out fire hoses and put them together. They do so while sprinting and wearing heavy equipment. They do similar courses nonstop for 48 hours.

"It teaches you no matter how tired you think you are, you have something deeper if you reach down for it," Baxter said. "In the, I guess, peer pressure of the group to perform and not let the teammates down, people find that second wind."

When the course started on Friday, the training course had 28 participants. Saturday afternoon they were down to 13.

Baxter stressed that the course isn't meant to make people quit, but it does show how hard it is to complete the course. The course was designed to give firefighters confidence that they can do their job in any condition.

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