Published: October 13, 2008 10:02 am            

Monica Green: Shooting guns and saving burning buildings

I lived every child’s dream Tuesday — I had the chance to be a policeman and fireman in one day.

Our bus was held hostage and overtaken by a SWAT team, I shot five different guns, and I put out a fire in a burning building while dressed in full firefighter gear.

But let me start at the beginning. Tuesday was our second class of Leadership Cleburne. It was “City Day,” a day that has often been referred to as a favorite for anyone who’s been through Leadership Cleburne.

We spent the morning touring Layland Museum, the Cleburne Public Library, the Cleburne Municipal Airport and the water plant by Lake Pat Cleburne. After Garey Wylie gave us an overview of Winston Patrick McGregor Park, we ate lunch before heading to our next exciting destination.

When we arrived at the gates of the Cleburne Police Department’s training fields, Police Chief Terry Powell took our bus hostage. SWAT team members swarmed the bus, yelling at us to keep our hands up and eyes down.

After we all were scared to death by the SWAT team, we watched as a man allowed himself to be tased. Two policemen held him as the Taser was shot into his back. Three prongs embedded in his skin, and they laid him down on cushions to remove the prongs. I don’t think I ever want to experience that pain.

Then, we were taken in groups of five to shoot guns. We started with a shotgun and worked our way up to an automatic gun. We all joked about how we felt like Al Pacino as we fired the gun at the targets.

Next we headed to Splash Station where we were served homemade cookies, which were delicious, and toured the pool. At this point my adrenaline was still pumping from shooting the guns an hour before.

That had been enough excitement for me for one day, but I had no idea what lay ahead. Our final destination was the Cleburne Fire Department’s training station. They informed us we were going to be suited up in the standard fireman’s bunker gear and go into a burning house to put out the fire.

Fun stuff, right? The first question was “Is anyone claustrophobic?” I raised my hand, the only one. Uh oh. But I was determined to do this, and my friend Kelly helped me through it.

When it was our turn, the firemen helped us start to suit up. Struggling through the claustrophobic feelings, I made it in the house.

Crawling on the floor carrying the hose, we aimed above the fire and extinguished it with the help of two other firemen. He told us to do it a second time, this time on our own. He put the controls in my hand, told me to aim and let go. Aiming, I noticed too late the fireman walking in front of me.

My partner yelled “Heads up!” as I nailed the fireman in the head with the water. Oops. I yelled out a “sorry” after that but everyone couldn’t help laughing at my faux pas. Crawling back out of the house, I grasped for that fresh air I desperately needed. I could not possibly imagine doing that daily.

It was an exciting end to an amazing day. Once in a lifetime opportunities I will never forget. I can’t wait to see what happens next month!

        

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