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and came out as fire fighters, secure in the knowledge that there wee able to safely work their way through a smoke filled building. “ It gives them a whole new perspective. It helps them build self-confidence as fire fighters,” explained one instructor.
The students attack the maze dressed in full equipment—heavy protective coat thick gloves, high boots and breathing apparatus complete with face mask, hose and air tanks which weigh 20 to 40 pounds. They crawl into a tunnel that’s three feet high and three feet wide. When the door shuts behind them, it’s black inside — not just dark but complete, utter and absolute black without even one tiny crack to let in a hint of light.
“Use your hands as your eyes. Feel your way. Keep your hands in front of you all •the time,” the instructors emphasized over and over again in their pre-maze briefings.
There’s no other alternative in the maze.
The tunnel bends around sharp corners, climbs ramps and descends down hill. The citing rises as the path leads to a simulated basement room where the fire fighters must feel their way to a meter in order to turn off utility switches. The trail goes up ladders and through a makebelieve attic, forcing the trainees to edge across joists separated by strips of insulation. Periodically, an outstretched hand will find only empty air. Then it’s turn carefully around and descend feet first, feeling this time with booted foot. The first drops are relatively easy to negotiate, only a foot or two to the ground, but the last is a monster, fully ten feet
Armed with flashlights and separated from the trainees by dividing walls topped with mesh, instructors monitor every move, always on the alert for the rapid breaking that signals hypervenilation and possible panic. When the going gets tough, they give the novice fire fighters verbal encouragement and in the event of a crisis, they can reach their charges im
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