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Charlotte Fire Department keeps the historic pompier ladder climb alive

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Recruits cycle through their climbs on the training tower, each taking a turn on the ladder while classmates watch and wait for their next attempt.

Charlotte Fire Department/Facebook

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte fire recruits are still learning a skill most departments left behind decades ago: the single-beam pompier ladder climb.

While the tool has largely disappeared from the American fire service, Charlotte Fire continues to teach the technique as a nod to the profession’s roots and to reinforce focus, trust and mental discipline.

Department leaders say the tradition, passed down through generations, helps new members understand the courage and commitment of those who came before them, and why those values still matter on today’s fireground.

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