Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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RED HOT JOB Students firefighters receive experience and financial opportunities Pitch black. You stumble on your hands and knees through a maze, weighted down with protective clothing and equipment. Sweat trickles down your back while you sweep through the chaos around you searching for a body. Your heart pounds as the urgency builds. You must succeed. A human life depends on it. Seven student firefighters faced this situation during their training in May. New students three weeks of fire academy with 120 hours of training while the returning firefighters attended 40 hours of retraining. Training included on fire theory and behavior, first aid, knot tying, how to work the ladders and forcible entry as well as the search and rescue above. Equipped with this knowledge, the seven men were ready to begin their duties at the Manhattan Fire Department Station located north of campus on the of Kimball and Denison avenues. The student firefighters program got started when the Fire Department built their new headquarters building on University property. They were allowed to use the land only if they provided some student said Jeremy Nely, sophomore who joined the in May. We are mainly part-time, stand-in types. We dispatch. While on dispatching duty students worked either from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weekdays or a 24-hour shift from 8 a.m. to 8 a.m. on weekends. Although the shifts seemed long and boring, st udents had to be for an emergency call at any time. The best way I can describe being a student firefighter is hours upon hours of sheer boredom separated by moments of terror, Nely said. In addition to working at the fire station, students were given a place to live in the basement. Student quarters included a living room, kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms and a storage area. I ' m interested in public service on the police side of it. This isn ' t a police station but it is good to see how things are run, Nely said. by Lorelei Page ♦ Working a 24-hour weekend shift, Lance Lunsway, Junior in answers 911 calls and handles the Fire Department ' s radio traffic. (Photo by Gary Lytle)

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♦ Troy Horton, senior in business, talks with Kristen Scheibe, senior in human development, as they lounge around and enjoy the music at the concert. (Photo by Christopher T. Assaf) ♦ Matt Lowe, sophomore in architecture, and John Cygnar, sophomore in construction science, sit back and relax while they cool off in the mini-pool they brought to the concert to make the afternoon of music even more enjoyable. (Photo by Joe Freeman) Welcome Back Concert 13

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♦ In the sparse environment of the firefighters ' dorms in the of the Fire Department, Lunsway sorts through a month ' s bills. (Photo by Gary Lytle) ♦ Lunsway works at one of the more mundane jobs of student firefighters, keeping the fire trucks and equipment spotlessly clean and ready. (Photo by Gary Lytle) Student Firefighters ♦ 15