By Tina Kelley
The New York Times
MAHWAH, N.J. — The trainees were sweating in their gear even before the exercises began here at the Bergen County firefighter training grounds. They wore red suspenders and the shields of their town departments on their helmets, some labeled with “Probie,” short for “probational.” Some of them had a few gray hairs in their crew cuts and mustaches.
Among them on that August day were Sean Healy, 44, and Dan Monchek, 47, who make up two-thirds of the trainee class for the nearby Ho Ho Kus Fire Department. The other trainee, a 43-year-old named Vince McCarthy, was not at this session.
As the men tried to spread a tarp over a picnic table to practice protecting furniture from water damage during a fire, the instructor, Rich Blohm, razzed them.
Full Story: At Volunteer Firehouses, a Touch of Gray in the Ranks