Clallam County Fire Protection District #1 currently has six new recruits who are currently in training, three of which are over 18 and will be able to go on scene once they graduate from Firefighter 1 training.

The class photo is of Fire Hall nights, which is training for both current Firefighters and the new recruits.

At home recruits use issued fire training manuals and an online learning platform to do go through courses and graduate with a Firefighter 1 certification after an in-person test.

The Swift Water Rescue is a team of volunteers that report to incidents in and surrounding water.

Swift Water Rescue is separate from the Firefighting crew, they’re a team of volunteers specifically trained on Swift water rescue (rescuing in bodies of water, CCFPD#1 jurisdiction is from the ocean to the opposite side of Lake Crescent. The other closest Swift water rescue team is in Sequim.

The Forks team has about 12 members.

Recently the team practiced victim recovery, individually rescuing with throw ropes and learing how to tell where shallow spots are on the river for faster recovery.

The new recruits also recently had instruction from Firefighter Ness and Firefighter Barnes – recruits were put in taped out masks to simulate being disoriented in smoke, they practiced how to find their way back by the connectors on a firehose.

And for some… how to use your voice to alert your partner if you need help. One of the key traits learned as firefighters is communication – by communicating during training and asking questions before simulations and fire scenes – firefighters can be sure to be safe and efficient.