District 6 Fire Cadets just wrapped up three grueling days at the Marine and Environmental Research and Training Station, or MERTS. The title is a little misleading, the Cadets didn’t do any environmental testing, rather they got to live like a full-fledged firefighter for three days. They got to fight live fire in the burn tower, practice team-building skills, and get roused out of bed several times a night–just like a real firefighter. Firefighter and Trainer Bill Dunlap always puts it like this: “It’s the best worse weekend of your life”. For the students, it’s the culmination of a year of firefighter training, and Trainer Firefighter Zach Hougan reports the team did a fantastic job.