Volunteer recruits quickly hop out of a fire engine during final training exercises. If the recruits do well during the training, and pass formal exams, they'll graduate from "red hats" to "yellow hats."

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

A safety officer is on hand during the final training exercise for a volunteer firefighting recruit class that began in August.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

Two safety officers discuss how the volunteer recruits are performing.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

Firefighters remove a "victim" through a second-story window during a training exercise in Leesburg.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

What might seem like chaos is actually something that volunteer recruits practice a lot: their roles during a fire.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

Family and friends look on as volunteer firefighter recruits work to extinguish an apartment fire during a training exercise.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

A recruit carries a dummy down a ladder during training exercises.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

This volunteer recruit is rushing to help his teammates as they battle a blaze in a three-story apartment building in part of the final training exercises. If the recruits pass a formal exam administered by the state, they will graduate Jan. 23.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

This recruit checks the valve on his respirator after the first scenario of the final training exercises. The training exercises were held at the the Loudoun Fire and Rescue Training Center, which is near the Leesburg Airport.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

Volunteer recruits check to make sure the blaze they were battling in a third-story apartment is out. The recruits were participating in the final training exercises of a class that began in August.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

Family and friends look on as volunteer recruits go through their last training exercise before taking formal tests and -- if they pass -- graduating on Jan. 23.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

This photo shows a dummy pulled out of a second-story window earlier in the exercise. Weighing up to 150 pounds, dummies like this are typically made from old hoses and firefighting suits.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

A volunteer recruit left his respirator and mask on the ground after breaching a smoke-filled second floor during final training exercises in Leesburg.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com

Recruits put a ladder back on a truck as the apartment fire scenario wraps up during the final round of exercises at the Loudoun Fire and Rescue Training Center.

Photo: Kevin Myrick, LoudounExtra.com