Forty-three future firefighters spent part of their Saturday performing vehicle extraction drills as part of the Eastern U.P./Straits Area Fire Academy training.
Half of group trained in the morning, the other in the afternoon.
The academy was open to all departments in the area and was held at Merle's Towing in Dafter Township. The 11 cars that were used for the exercise were donated by Merle's Towing.
"There is a critical need for first responders across the entire country. We are fortunate to have such a large class from the EUP and Straits area and taking the time to volunteer to help their community in a time of need," Dafter Volunteer Fire Deptartment Chief Austin Conway said.
It takes a lot of long days and plenty of hours to become a volunteer firefighter.
"All of these students here are currently in the fire academy. With this exercise, they will be close to their 300 hours of required training and will be finishing up in mid-May. They have been training most Saturdays and a couple nights a week for the last six months or so," Conway added.
This exercise at Merles was not the only one happening today.
"On scene, Dafter Township Volunteer Fire Department and Pickford Township Volunteer Fire Departments are coordinating this training. There is also training going on in Kinross with several other departments," Conway said.
Conway added that Dafter has three people finishing up training in the academy.
The jaws of life apparatus itself weighs around 40 pounds. The cost of each tool runs from $60,000-$80,000.
