Since each on-duty shift includes four firefighters, three other firefighters arrive on the pumper as well. Once on-scene, the driver engages the pump on the apparatus. Pumping is the FAO's only responsibility during the fire, and he'll be busy, because operating the fire pump is a complicated procedure that requires a lot of training. (You've probably seen our pumpers out training, "throwing water" at Graden School or near the Parkville Library - we're out making sure everybody's skills are top-notch). The Fire Apparatus Operator (FAO) - or engineer, as he or she is sometimes called - has to set hose pressures to different attack lines (hoses used to put water onto the fire, or attack it), while making sure enough water flows into the pumper's pump through large supply lines.

The two remaining firefighters have the dangerous job of going into the building with an attack line to actually fight the fire - "put the wet stuff on the red stuff" as we sometimes say. They're the "interior sector." These firefighters wear Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), or more commonly called air-packs around the station. The masks and bottles of compressed air (not oxygen, which is explosive in heat) allow a firefighter to enter the smoky, poisonous-gas environment of a burning building. Firefighters always enter a fire in pairs for safety reasons. Each keeps an eye on the other -- as a firefighter, your life often depends on your partner.

These firefighters will crawl on their hands and knees, carrying flashlights, axes, radios, and a rigid, heavy firehose until they find the fire. Because the visibility inside a burning building is so bad, they may never actually see flames, just a faint red glow.