ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla — Battling flames and saving lives, do you have what it takes to be a firefighter?
Hundreds of firefighters are training this week in the nation's oldest city for the Ancient City Fire Expo. It's a chance for them to unite and train.
First Coast News Reporter Renata Di Gregorio was live on Good Morning Jacksonville from the First Coast Technical College Public Safety Campus to try her hand at being a firefighter.
Training exercises firefighters are doing that Di Gregorio tried include using a fire hose to shoot through a wooden triangle and door frame, running up the stairs of a building with a fire hose and shooting water out a second story window, and breaking through a door.
"Our whole goal is making life safety so we want to go in there, put the fire out, make sure the people are safe and they can get out, and then save property after that," said Max Schafer, a local firefighter leading training exercises.
The Ancient City Fire Expo brings firefighters from all over the country to St. Augustine. The expo started Tuesday with lectures at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre.
"A lot of our fire service in general is passed down through the generations," said Jeremy Rubottom, a firefighter from Orlando leading training exercises. "That's what this conference is all about is taking the knowledge we've learned in the past and bringing it forward to the next generation of new guys. We've got instructors from all over the country, a lot are here flying here, we're not making any money. It's mostly on a volunteer basis."
Di Gregorio's consensus is it's a hard job and she has so much respect for firefighters. She says she had a blast, but it would be an entirely different experience if she were doing it for real under the pressure of flames, Florida's heat, and knowing lives depend on you.