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.

Exclamations of disbelief filled the classroom of the Frederick County fire and rescue training facility Friday as Recruit Class 21 learned about blood loss from Fire Medic III Adam Miller.

As each firefighter recruit in class 21 finished a brisk 1.5-mile run Thursday morning, instructors Lt. Bob McCaa and firefighter George Lane were waiting for them at the finish line.

After nearly three months, the recruits of Class 21 began their emergency medical technician training last week, embarking on a new, much more rigorously academic portion of the six-month academy.

Viscous globs of syrup and molasses oozed down the bright yellow plastic hood of four firefighter recruits preparing to undergo decontamination training at the county fire academy last week.

Firefighter recruit Alexandra Biris grunted as she hit the pavement outside the burn building on the Frederick County Public Safety Training facility grounds Wednesday afternoon.

Recruit James Wardrick suddenly straightened next to a burned-out car on the fire academy’s training grounds Wednesday morning, raising a gloved hand to beckon his fellow recruits over to the window.

A long, straining creak gave way with a final crack as a group of firefighter recruits tore the roof from a four-door sedan at the Public Safety Training Facility on Thursday.

Drizzle fell over Pinecliff Park early Friday as the recruits of Class 21 made their way down a muddy hill, a stretcher held securely between them.

A cloud of thick gray smoke poured out of the Public Safety Training Facility’s burn building Wednesday as two firefighter recruits hustled out the door, a mannequin cradled in their arms.

A loud explosion caused firefighter recruits a moment’s hesitation Thursday as they cautiously approached the flaming wreckage of an SUV on the grounds of the county’s Public Safety Training Facility.

Recruit Class 21 finished its first month at the Frederick County Public Safety Training Facility with a class that Capt. Lenne Stolberg jokingly referred to as Burglary 101.

“What’s the bet?” Lt. Mike Webb shouted to the line of firefighter recruits jogging in formation behind him Monday morning at the Frederick County Public Safety Training Facility.

Firefighter recruit Chris Folster reached for his radio during a training exercise on Friday. The simulation included the sounds of a burning building raging around him. A steady, high-pitched tone broadcast his distress to anyone in earshot.