In 2019, 300 firefighters from as far as Alaska and Los Angeles found their way to West Point. This year, nearly 200 made the journey to the Robinson Olsson Auditorium to attend the weekend-long, second annual Journeyman Fire Conference.
When firefighter Kiel Samsing got the gut-wrenching news that his close friend had died in the line of duty, he knew he wanted to do something to celebrate his life and the principles he and his friend believed in.
According to Samsing, firefighters work in a perishable trade. There is no way to completely master the craft. It is a job that calls for constant learning.
“Once you have mastered one skill, you’ll forget another one,” he said. “So you are forever stuck having to learn new skills and perfecting old ones.”