A Columbus firefighter working out of Fire Station 2 is the first local firefighter certified as an “Indiana Smoke Diver.”
For six consecutive days, firefighter Marcus Gruner worked out and trained up to 14-hours a day, so he could — as Gruner describes it — “wear out (his) mind and body to the point where everything is hurting.”
However, the payoff was that the 28-year-old Gruner set a milestone by becoming the first Columbus firefighter to become a certified Indiana Smoke Diver.
A smoke diver is considered an “interior attack firefighter” specially trained to carry out rescues and extinguish flames while wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
While that was part of Gruner’s training, he said a better description of an Indiana Smoke Diver is someone who successfully completes 60 hours of military-style training that prepares them to handle the most tension-filled and physically exhausting challenges at emergency and disaster scenes.
When training began at the Wayne Township Fire Department Training Facility in Marion County, there were 26 people from all over the country enrolled in the course that Gruner took. But by the end of the week, seven had dropped out.
There was no effort made by any instructors to weed out participants, Gruner said. Some had to quit due to injuries, while others bowed out because they likely had not adequately prepared themselves for the tough training, he said.
The road that led Gruner to volunteer for the specialized training began about three years ago when the young firefighter noticed he was feeling worn out after completing some fire runs, he said.
“I wasn’t happy with myself physically on these runs,” the Hancock County native said. “I didn’t feel I was giving everything to the crew I was working with.”
While looking for some new workout exercises, Gruner became intrigued with training videos produced by the Indiana Smoke Divers Association. He purchased the organization’s preparation program and began adding their exercises to his own normal routine, Gruner said. He also began reading books about mental toughness that were written for Navy SEALS, he said.
After seeing how the new exercises were helping him improve physically, Gruner said he eventually made up his mind that he would take the Indiana Smoke Divers training.
Besides long-distance runs, the training’s physical requirements include completing a 16 station obstacle course dressed in full personal protective equipment. Gruner had to haul a 100-foot hose with water running through it, ascend three stories with a heavy attack line hose pack, and hoist a rolled-up hose line over a window sill before unrolling it to the ground in a specific method.
The obstacle course also involved flipping a tractor tire weighing over 150 pounds five times, using a simulated forcible entry chopping device, dragging a rescue dummy 50 feet in the proper fashion and training 14 hours daily for three of the six days he was there, Gruner said.
“There’s plenty of guys who do much harder workouts every day, but it’s different when someone else is controlling what you are doing,” Gruner said. “I also found the program is as much mentally challenging as it is physically.”
Following a substantial amount of classroom training, participants were required to score a minimum of 80% correct on a 50-question written test to pass the course, the website states.
Finally, participants are taught to function within the elements of what’s called the “Incident Command System.” It is a hierarchical structure that creates a cooperative response by multiple agencies to organize and coordinate disaster response activities in the most efficient manner.
As he looks back now on the training, which was completed in March, Gruner said he feels 90% of the course is focused on self-rescue and team member rescue techniques, while 10% is focused on skill mastering and situational awareness development.
While he might have a few bragging rights among his peers, Gruner said the training is not intended to help a firefighter advance up the chain of command, nor to warrant an increase in salary and benefits.
So why spend your own money to mentally and physically challenge yourself every day for a week?
“I wanted to challenge myself to be the best I can be at my job,” Gruner said. “It was a goal I set for myself to be a better fireman, but also on a personal level, it was also my goal to build a good mindset and better control it.”
Gruner was a member of the sixth class of the Indiana Smoke Diver program that began in 2013. The seventh class will not begin until next spring.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Marcus Gruner” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Age: 28
Hometown: New Palestine
Education: New Palestine High School Class of 2011. Studied fire sciences for two years at Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis
Career: Became a Columbus firefighter in 2015.
Family: Wife, Cayce
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Where to learn more” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
To learn more about the Indiana Smoke Diver program, visit indianasmokediver.com/.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
