State Representative Sean Scanlon (D-Guilford, Branford) recently completed Fire Ops 101, a half-day training exercise at the Hartford Fire Department Training Facility. The exercise is designed to give elected officials a first-hand glimpse of what a day in the life of a firefighter is like.

Scanlon (right), with the help of his shadow, Guilford firefighter/paramedic Steve LaPaglia, donned full firefighter gear and rotated through several live-action scenarios such as search and rescue in a smoke-filled room, using the Jaws of Life to cut off a car door in a simulated motor vehicle accident, and extinguishing an actual fire inside a training building.