Recruit Austin Nelson fidgeted in his dress uniform as he prepared to take the stage Friday evening at the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services’ graduation ceremony at Frederick Community College.

By about 8:30 p.m. Friday, firefighter recruit Trevor Snodderly had been on his feet running live fire drills for close to nine hours.

If the recruits in Frederick County firefighter Class 21 thought their instructors would take it easy on them on the eve of the last exam in their six-month academy, they had another thing coming.

Igniting into a wall of flame with a heavy whoosh, the metal-framed gas prop at Frederick County’s firefighter training facility sent a wall of heat washing over the two orderly lines of firefighter recruits standing nearby.

If firefighting ever gets old for Lt. Mike Webb or Capt. Lenne Stolberg, either of them could easily take up leading tours around downtown Frederick.

Firefighter recruit James Wardrick breathed a sigh of relief as he reached the top of a ladder extended from Citizens Truck Company truck 4-2 to the roof of the Frederick County fire training facility’s five-story training tower Thursday.

Frederick resident Kelly Imber smiled nervously as she stepped out of her minivan at Friday’s child safety seat inspection checkpoint on Buckeystown Pike.

In his address to members of Recruit Class 22 and their families last week, county Fire Chief Tom Owens highlighted the importance of a strong support network for each of the 21 young men in the coming weeks.

While the recruits in Frederick County’s two most recent firefighter classes may find it hard to believe, it wasn’t too long ago that their instructors, lieutenants Mike Webb and Bob McCaa, were in their shoes.

The classroom lectures of Frederick County’s firefighter academy took on a slightly more urgent tone last week for the 11 recruits in Class 21 who still need to take the national registry exam.

A whirlwind of emergency lights sent firefighters scrambling for the ambulance at the United Steam Fire Engine Company in downtown Frederick at 9:08 a.m. Friday.

Capt. Steve Schultz cringed Thursday as he watched a recruit drive an ambulance over a simulated pedestrian. It was the final leg of the Frederick County training facility’s emergency driver’s course.