It was a sweltering day when Sun Live attended a training day at the Fire and Emergency NZ National Training Centre in Rotorua.

On arrival, live fire training manager Kurtis Flack welcomed reporter Thomas Eley.

At 8am, he said training starts with the new firefighters lining up and waiting for their objectives and activities for the day.

“They complete pre-work checks, just like at the station.”

Career fire stations typically operate on two shifts, a day shift from 8am to 6pm and a night shift from 6pm to 8am.

Trainer and trainee get ready for a live fire training session at the National Training Centre in Rotorua.

The recruits were on week 11 of a 12-week course and bonded through completing a gruelling set of live-fire and breathing apparatus drills.

“Currently, we take four career recruit courses a year.”

One of the exercises sees the recruits in a small concrete room with an obstacle course, where they learn to trust in their breathing apparatus and communicate as a team, Flack said.

“It is one of the hardest things they will do.”

In live-fire training, fires are created where recruits use the knowledge taught to them while a trainer monitors their actions.

A fire at the National Training Centre for recruits to extinguish.

“We will create a reasonable fire, not a huge fire, and we’re aiming for temperatures somewhere between 250 to 300C.

“They have their gear on, their hose, and all the protective gear, so the temperatures should only be around 60C where they are.”

During this exercise, the recruits must prove they can perform search and rescue by removing dummies acting as patients from their location.

“They will use the techniques, like thermal imaging cameras or manual techniques, to locate and rescue the patients.”

Flack said wood fires are used during this training for safety and to reduce potential cancer-causing chemicals such as foam.

A fake hotel at the National Training centre.

The training centre is divided into stages one and two.

The first stage opened in 2006 and offers basic training, and the second stage expanded, resembling small town or city streets where trainers can light various props on fire, allowing for all types of fire training.

According to Flack, there are approximately 14,000 firefighters nationally, 1800 career firefighters in urban areas, and the remainder are volunteers.

Flack said the National Training Centre is run by a dedicated administration and management team, which the trainers call the “engine room”.

The manager of training centre delivery, Mark Wirihana. Photo / Tom Eley

It is where Mark Wirihana, the manager of training centre delivery at Fire and Emergency New Zealand, and Mignon King-Mosen, the manager of learning operations, manage the yearly training schedule.

King-Mosen said the training centre works closely with Ngati Te Roro o te Rangi and Ngati Uenukukopako, and all trainees are welcomed on their first day with a pōwhiri.

Wirihana oversees all of the training across training centres in the country, including two additional centres in Auckland and Christchurch, that train the career staff and volunteers. Trainee fulltime firefighters come from all walks of life.

Trainee firefighter Cameron Wilson was a volunteer firefighter before deciding to become a fulltime service member.

Volunteer turned career firefighter Cameron Wilson knows it is a big step to being fulltime.

“There’s only a week course as a volunteer, and here it is 12 weeks, so the difference is significant.”

As a volunteer, he knows the horror of the job, but in his spare time, he enjoys mountain biking to get his heart rate up.

Getting the hose out at the National Training Centre in Rotorua.

Recruit Harriet Rowse, 22, from North Waikato, always wanted to be a firefighter, she said. Her dad is a police officer, and her uncle is a firefighter.

She said her father could not be more proud of her decision.

“I always wanted to help people,” she said.

Rowse is one of three female firefighters in her training group and said she knows the odds are stacked against her.

“I have a smaller frame, but it means I can crawl into tight spaces,” she said.

The breathing apparatus drills, night scenarios, and bonding her team did were the highlights of Rowse’s training.

“It is the best job in the world,” she said.