By Elisabeth Strillacci

KANNAPOLIS — Firefighters are subjected to physically challenging situations daily, and to become a firefighter in North Carolina, applicants must pass a physical agility test that includes, among others, the beep test, push-ups, pull-ups, plank, step-ups and sandbag test. Applicants must also demonstrate aerobic capacity and muscular strength and endurance.

However, there are no state standards that have to be maintained once someone is on the job. But the challenges firefighters face don’t stop.

The Georgia Smoke Diver course was established to help firefighters maintain the physical and mental fitness necessary to perform the job to the best of firefighters’ abilities. It is a rigorous, six day 60-hour program and graduation is not easy, nor is it frequent.

Two Kannapolis firefighters have now graduated from the course, and not only are they the first Kannapolis firefighters to do so, but they are two of only four N.C. firefighters who have graduated.

Wesley Rigdon and Cody Clark were in a class of 42 members, selected from 650 applicants, and in the end, only 11 graduated.

The Georgia Smoke Diver Association is a 501(c) nonprofit organization that conducts advanced firefighter training. The condition that a firefighter must be in to adequately perform at a fire scene can be compared to that of a professional athlete, according to the organization’s website.

“Unlike professional athletes, we don’t know when the next fire is, we don’t get to warm up and we don’t have the benefit of professional coaches, massage therapists, medical staffs and state-of-the-art gym equipment. There has always been controversy regarding fitness standards. Many local departments have fitness standards for their hiring process but nothing for incumbent members,” the site states.

In addition, heart attacks are still the No. 1 killer of firefighters nationally. The Smoke Diver course is not designed to increase the physical fitness of a firefighter. However, firefighter fitness is a byproduct of the entire training and preparation for the course. So the program does have a positive impact on firefighters’ level of fitness.

The course is designed to provide realistic training in self-survival, firefighter rescue, advanced search and rescue, thermal imaging, emergency procedure, teamwork, discipline, team leadership, situational awareness and decision-making as well as how to function within the elements of the Incident Command System, according to a release from the Kannapolis Fire Department.