As a cold January rain fell, Hunter Long methodically climbed the wet ladder, cleared the debris from the second floor window sill and crawled headfirst into the building for a simulated rescue.
"I'm going in," yelled Long, an 18-year-old Cabell Midland High School student who has been volunteering with the Barboursville Fire Department for the past two years.
Long was just one of dozens of firefighters from about eight to 10 fire departments who were training Saturday and Sunday at the Tri-State Fire Academy, located on W.Va. 2.
Both career and volunteer firefighters with various levels of experience came from as far away as Shepherdstown and Moundsville.
Conducting the training were five guys from the Harvest Volunteer Fire Department in Harvest, Alabama. They have a company, Truckless Truckie Training and Tools, which for the past two-and-a-half years has offered training for departments in Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi.
"This has been very helpful," Long said. "We don't get to do this a lot and not a lot of classes come around, so when we get the chance it is great to get a big group of guys out here. It's awesome to have a group that's everything from 18 years old to chiefs of certain departments coming out to train together."