The Demopolis Fire Department has received equipment to help those interested in a career in firefighting. Pictured are, from left, DFD Chief Vernon Waters, Willie Sanderson, Rodney Fields, Daniel Whatley, Marco Rembert, Adam Ballard, Alex Morris, Hunter Mayton, and Talmus Williams.

Aspiring firefighters in the Demopolis area won’t have to travel far to prepare for their future career as the Demopolis Fire Department has acquired Candidate Physical Abilities Test (CPAT) equipment to prepare people for fire college.
“It tests a candidate’s ability to function in fire service,” said Fire Station No. 3 Battalion Chief Talmus Williams.
According to Lt. Alex Morris, the CPAT equipment, which will be housed at Station 3, was acquired from the Selma Fire Department.
“We so glad to have it here in Demopolis and we’re ready to fire it up,” said Lt. Morris.
Demopolis Fire Chief Vernon Waters was on hand for the unveiling of the CPAT equipment and noted that a prospective firefighter must pass this test before moving on to fire school.
“If you do not pass this test, you can not enter fire service,” said Waters.
Lt. Morris laid out the parameters of the test.
“It’s a 10 minute and 20 second test that has eight events and you have to complete them all. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to complete an individual event, but the whole test must be under the 10 minute and 20 second mark or you fail,” Morris said.
“There’s not many departments in Alabama that have CPAT equipment and certification,” Waters said. There’s a fire college in Mobile and Montgomery and maybe 500 in the whole nation. Licensing is provided through the International Firefighters Association and we just received ours last week.”
Because the test has different criteria, the station will host skill days were there will be video and events setup for firefighter hopefuls in preparation for the CPAT.
“We want everyone to know what we are doing and how proud we are to have this equipment,” Waters said.
Morris added that anyone who wants to see how the CPAT works could search “CPAT” on YouTube for examples.