Inside Look At What It Takes To Be A Baltimore City Firefighter

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- On any given day, the Baltimore Fire Department will receive over 600 calls for some kind of help.

Mike Schuh shows us firsthand what it takes to be a firefighter.

Thank you Baltimore City Fire Department for not letting me injure myself.

It would have been easy; broken glass was everywhere.

I was ordered to break windows. In fact, I could break as many as I wanted.

I didn't suffocate inside 75 pounds of protective gear, learned to work a fire hose and mustered the courage to walk up to an inferno.

I still have all my fingers after cutting the door off a Pontiac.

This is Firefighting 101. The department--giving us a glimpse into the challenges in their world.

"We'd like to expose as many people to it. It's a great job; it's a great opportunity to serve," said Chief Niles R. Ford, Baltimore Fire Department.

Firefighters depend on each other so everyone returns home at the end of a shift.

Whether it's helping me spray the fire hose, there is a method to getting recruits to be able to take the pressure.

"When you add that smoke and that fire, everybody gets a little amped up, everybody gets a little excited and things start going wrong," said instructor Bob McMillen, Baltimore Fire Department.

This was more physical than I thought. I'm a strong man, yet the hose got away from me.

I learned enough Friday to be thankful that when I go to a fire for Eyewitness News, I'm across the street, out of harm's way.

Right now, there are a half dozen recruits training at that academy to become Baltimore City firefighters.