The Woodward News

Local News

October 18, 2009

Firefighter applicants tested

Dakota Lamberth of Sharon picked up the coiled fire truck hose.

Balancing the weight of the hose, he carefully walked the length of a beam.

“I was nervous about the beam,” Lamberth said after he finished the test. “If I had stepped off, I would have failed.”

Lamberth was one of eight applicants who participated in an agility test conducted by the Woodward Fire Department Saturday morning.

“It’s part of the hiring process,” Fire Capt. Kevin Dixon said of the agility test, noting the test is comprised of six different exercises designed to test physical endurance.

The eight applicants were required to not only walk the beam, but to do 25 push-ups and 35 sit-ups within certain time limits, run 1.5 miles in 13 minutes, and perform a flexibility exercise with a dumbbell as well as carry a 150-pound dummy a distance of 100 feet.

“Usually they also climb a ladder on our ladder truck,” Dixon said. “But the ladder truck is out of service this weekend.”

The agility tests are used as the initial entry system into the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement system, which is a prerequisite for employment, he said.

Dixon said the fire department was conducting the tests because there are openings for a public education officer and a firefighter, and the fire department wants to fill the positions.

Although only eight applicants went through the tests Saturday, a total of 21 applicants have signed up to compete for the open positions, he said. So the fire department will be hosting another agility test day on Oct. 31 for the remaining applicants, he said.

“The agility test is good for one year,” Dixon said. “It’s the first step to getting hired.”

A written exam comes next, then an interviewing process, he said.

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