Almost all of the recruits in Snohomish County’s first fire academy have suited up before.
But for Chau Nguyen, 33, a former furniture delivery truck driver, it was the first time he’d put on the hefty fire-resistant gear, slung the red 5-inch hose line over his shoulder and unraveled it by hauling it across wet asphalt. Like the other recruits, he seemed to run in slow motion as he neared 200 feet from the back of the engine, when friction made the hose seem heavier than it felt seconds earlier.
“You can’t really stop, and that’s kind of the heart of what this process is,” Nguyen said. “Can’t ever stop. You’ve got to fight through and keep going, because if you quit, it takes a lot of work to get back at it.”