When I was about 10 years old I remember thinking :"Wouldn't it be cool to be a firefighter?" That thought was short-lived because I decided I wanted to be a zookeeper ... then a teacher ... then an actress.

I somehow ended up being a journo.

Right now, ACT Parks and Conservation Service is training new and returning seasonal firefighters.

For the past few weeks, the recruits have been going through an intense month of training before being thrown into spring operations to prepare Canberra's fire defence. This season is predicted to be a bad one and the fire season was brought forward a month.

So, in the interest of bringing you, our readers, the news you want, I decided to go along for the day and see what it takes to be a firefighter.

When I arrive, the recruits are learning how to interact with vulnerable people in emergency situations.

After a quick chat, we head to the back of the ACT Parks and Conservation Service depot in Coombs for some truck work.

Trainer Gareth Conway is running through the parts of the back of the truck. He quizzes us on what everything is, where things can be found, what's the right and wrong thing to do.

I'm blown away by the memory and knowledge of the recruits. Within 10 minutes of listening to Gareth, my brain turned to mush.

At first, I'm feeling pretty intimidated by everyone - they all seemed so serious. But as I chat with everyone, it turns out they're all nice people with tough exteriors.

It's time to learn how to extinguish a fire. The trainers light a small fire in a contained metal box. We're told sometimes it's just not worth unravelling the hose, instead, stomping on the fire or using a fire extinguisher can be the easiest and fastest option.

We move back to the fire truck for some hose training. I'm partnered with fellow recruit Angus Polhill and we're fourth in line so I can watch people in action before my turn.

In our pairs, we're required to unravel/bowl our hoses out, connect them to each other, then join one end to the truck and the other end to the nozzle. We then have to aim and extinguish the "fire" (in this case, an orange cone).

Sounds simple right? Wrong.

I'm not the most coordinated person, heck, I'll even admit I'm not the fittest so when I'm asked "Do you even lift?" as a joke, I nervously laugh.

It's our turn.

As we walk to the truck to grab the gear I'm thinking: don't forget to walk - not run (have you ever noticed that firefighters don't run?), grab the nozzle as well as the hose, make sure the hose is held correctly and most importantly don't let my partner Angus down.

We reach the truck and I try to get the hose out - it's heavy. I struggle to get a grip on it (I think it has something to do with my nervous sweating). I grab the nozzle and Angus and I walk to the zone. I place the nozzle and hose on the ground and unbuckle it. I'm not holding it correctly so Angus gives me a hand.

We're ready to bowl our hoses.

I think to myself: I finally get to use the skills I learnt from playing lawn bowls in high school. Hose equals lawn bowls. I bend one leg forward, stretch the other one back, pull back my right hand with the hose and release.

All is going well and then two seconds later and my hose goes wonky - damn.

I struggle to attach the nozzle but with Angus's help we're up and ready to go. I yell "Water on!" and the hose fills with water. I pull the lever and open the water valve.

Bullseye. We hit the spot and extinguish the fire.

At this stage I'm sweating badly - I ask if anyone else is sweating ... it's only me. Time for the not-so-glamorous job that the public doesn't see: packing up. Rolling a fire hose is not as easy as it sounds: it's a two-person job and my goodness my arms are sore.

After I roll up my hose (which takes much longer than everyone else), I hand back the fire gear, pack my bags, say goodbye and head back to the newsroom.

The verdict: It's a lot more than putting out fires and saving cats from trees. The recruits have to sit through a lot of theory and remember a lot of things, while under the pressure of meeting practical requirements. It was really fun to hang out with them, but I'm going to stick to my day job.

Details: This year's recruit season has finished, but if you'd like more information on seasonal firefighters visit here.

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