Firefighters? All they do is sit around playing cards, occasionally getting up to wash their vehicles, right?

Trying telling that clich? to Bermuda's latest recruits, who have dealt with people maimed in road accidents, tackled burning oil blazes and, perhaps worst of all, trained in the dreaded burn box where they endure heat of several hundred degrees Fahrenheit.

New recruit Daylon Johnson, 27, explains: "I had an argument the other day with some who said 'Buddy, all you lot do is wash cars'.

"I said he wouldn't last one month in our training. The heat chamber alone would discourage him.

"When you are coming down the step straight into the heat, which rises, you get hot and uncomfortable. By the time you get to the bottom no one really has to tell you to get down because you want to get down as low as possible.

"All you know is so and so is in front of you, so and so is behind you and someone is behind him and you must keep contact."

It can lead to some harsh words as the one at the back of the queue gets frustrated when there is a hold up.

Colleague Philip Woods, 26, agreed the burn box was a huge challenge. "Yesterday I was pushed to my limit. Everybody was pushed to their limit.

"Everybody came out with pins and needles all over their body and just wanted to lay down.

"A few guys were screaming at each other. Afterwards they all talked about it and everybody was fine."

Sessions in the chamber can last 20 minutes as recruits put out a fire caused by burning pallets or do a search and rescue.

Sounds bad enough? In some sessions they are blindfolded.

Recruit Patrick Furbert said this was the worst.

"My biggest fear personally was when they would black out your mask by putting trash bags over it so you have to go by pure feel. You are feeling for obstacles and feeling under furniture looking for victims.

"The heat is kicking up behind your neck, that can get a little crazy.

"The heat is intense but people are trained to overcome their fears."

Nor are the recruits, who exude tremendous enthusiasm for a job which can sound like everyone's worst nightmare, about to allow cynics dismiss the work they do augmenting the Island's ambulance crews.

Mr. Woods, a former mason, said: "People might say it's just a road accident but you know everybody here, it might be one of your family members lying there.

"It hurts you but you know you have a job to do before you let your feelings take over. A lot of us are going to have to experience this on our own before we figure out what it's like."

Mr. Johnson added: "No two days are ever going to be the same."

He said the ERT calls showed him the stress levels involved while also making him realise how appreciated fire crews were.

He recalled doing a neck stabilisation on a girl who had hurt her face in a road accident.

"We tried to keep her quiet but when she got to the doctor she didn't want to lay down.

"We had to physically restrain her, one on each leg even though she was a small girl. She was in a lot of pain, she knew she had done some serious damage to her face.

"She actually got plastic surgery that evening. Had this happened five or six years ago that wouldn't have happened. She was very lucky."

Mr. Johnson left a steel job on construction sites to enter the course.

"I needed a career and have a job I am proud of and my family can be proud of and provide a positive role for my stepson so he can learn he can do whatever he puts his mind to."

At first the recruits felt very proud to don their protective gear which keeps the flames from doing damage but are heavy, making the job even sweatier.

"You can sweat out every ounce of fluid in your body doing this job. The suits weight 30 pounds but they weigh can 40 pounds after you have been sweating," said Mr. Furbert who enjoys the paramedic-side of the job.

The 31 year old was in the airport Police before switching roles and had a long wait before getting told he had the job.

"There were 400 people who applied for this job."

Bermuda has around 70 fire fighters. The recruit courses are not run every year as turnover isn't that great. Openings are usually through gaps provided by retirement and promotion.

Even the raw recruits give off a strong sense of job satisfaction. spoke to Mr. Furbert as he operated the valve for crews tackling oil blazes at Morgan's Point last week.

The fuel was poured in a two feet deep pit about the size of a football six-yard box while other liquids were added to help it ignite.

Within seconds flames several feet high were souring into the sky while the heat could be felt from some distance away.

However the recruits' job was to march into the danger and snuff it out.

Woman firefighter Wenda Godfrey, who has been fighting fires for nine years, explained the technique needed was a wide spray as narrow jets of water could simply splash the burning oil and disperse the fire.

Two overlapping jets provide a wall of water to snuff out the flames and provide the crew with protection from the fire and heat.

"The pattern also has to touch the ground in front of them to avoid the fire coming from beneath."

An oil fire can reach very high temperatures but in open atmosphere some of the heat is diluted.

"A small room can get very hot as well as there is no escape from the heat."

Jermaine DeSilva, 29, was at the sharp end. He said: "There's an adrenaline rush."

But the wall of water diminishes the heat.

"The key thing is to move in unison, it knocks out a big portion of the fire with one swift move."

While the crews take turns advancing towards the blaze colleagues train a steady jet of water on nearby oil barrels to curb the danger of them igniting from the radiant heat generated by the main fire.

Meanwhile Mr. Furbert was operating the valve.

It is a crucial job, calculations have to be made to ensure pressure is not lost as the pump goes up storeys.

If the pressure gets too great and the nozzle is closed the pressure goes back along the hose leading to burst pipes.

"The pump operator at the truck has to be ever so vigilant. If the pressure is too high he has to turn it down."

Each standard one and a half inch high pressure hose can deliver 150 gallons per minute. An ordinary fire truck can exhaust itself in two minutes so water has to be rationed until replenishments are found or the 1,000 gallon water tanker arrives from the base.

Such volume can quickly exhaust supplies but Bermuda's geography with its plentiful sea water means crews are never too far from replenishments although the salt water must be carefully cleaned after, otherwise it can corrode equipment.

Fire crews can commandeer pool and tank water from homes.

"Most people don't complain, if the house next door to you is burning and the flames are coming towards you then you want your house to be safe.

"When we go into a fire, they expect us out in about 20 minutes. It doesn't seem much but when you come out you are dead tired.

"You could be dragging casualties, pulling hoses, fighting fires with heat all in your face."

Increased fire safety standards with automatic sprinklers being installed in buildings has slashed the number of serious fires in Bermuda. Mr. Furbert said RTAs were the bulk of emergency calls in Bermuda.

He and his 14 colleagues, who started their 22-week recruit course in May, flew out to the UK last to get training in road accidents.

Whilst in England they will also train on ship-board fire fighting aircraft fire fighting.

"They have all the facilities," said Mr. Furbert. "They literally have a boat at the dock which they light on fire.

"With the RTAs they have a forklift which can put the car in every precarious position you can think of for you to go in cut people out, rescue and stabilise. I really enjoy my job."

Recruits will learn how to deal with multiple vehicle accidents and will also tackle advancing fires caused by back drafts. Fire fighters are trained to watch fires carefully to anticipate how they will move and they are trained to stay low as heat and gases rise.

Lead instructor Lloyd Burchall, 44, hopes the training will give them more confidence.

He said with aircraft fires the challenges were the increased volatile fuel loads.

"Today was a preparation for that. You might have a large numbers of people to rescue. The key to it is speed and isolating the fuel tanks from the people," said Lt. Burchall who added that the recruits would be using the new jet fire simulator at Gatwick.

"Marine fire fighting has problems with the compartments, all the walls and ceiling being metal you have to deal with high temperatures. I have seen the metals glowing and warping."

He said fast narrow jets were needed otherwise the heat would simple turn fine spray into steam. "It would come back and cook you."