Sand flies as a mob of young firefighter apprentices barrel up the hill at Carmel Beach. In the muggy parking lot at the top of the hill, they line up in military-like formation. Overhead lights cast a dull, orange glow over the piles of yellow fire-proof gear at their feet. Sweat beads up under their helmets and soaks their T-shirts. Huffing in air, they wait for the next drill.

It’s just 6:15am on a Sunday morning – and these Monterey Peninsula College Fire Academy recruits have already been training for 45 minutes.

“Are you ready?” Seaside Firefighter Jason Black shouts at the class.

“Bring it!” they fire back on cue.

Black calls out a randomly selected challenge to test their ability to react: a structure fire at 1500 Coe Ave. The students step into their stiff boots, pull up their cumbersome overalls, throw on their bulky jacket, scabbard and ax, then struggle to get the heavy breathing apparatus on their backs. All in all, the gear weighs more than a full-grown dalmatian. To graduate from the academy they’ll have to don these weighty duds in less than a minute and 45 seconds.

To distract them Black calls out random thoughts. “There is an ice cream truck driving down Broadway,” he says. It seems to work: One student drops for 20 pushups because he put on his gear in the wrong order. “If they can’t handle organized chaos,” Black says, “how can they handle the chaos of a fire?”

This is only week eight of the trying, five-month-long academy training. Students come from Santa Cruz, Paso Robles and points beyond to train here because MPC’s academy is one of the toughest in the area, with physical training on both Saturday and Sunday mornings followed by eight hours of instruction and drills. There is also a Thursday night class.

Not everyone makes it. The academy started with 28 students and is down to 22. They’ve made it through a midterm test of tying knots and tossing 24-foot ladders, but four weeks of wildland firefighting still await.

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Monterey Division Chief Steve Roth, who coordinates the academy, looks over the tired-eyed recruits standing at attention in the early morning light. He finds one moving. The recruit goes down for pushups as waves crash on the beach.

Black tells them to grab their homework. The students rush to their cars and return with huge white binders. Roth skims through the lengthy homework assignments with a flashlight.

“This is a college academy, but it is no different than a full-time job,” Roth says while walking down to the beach. Graduates receive 16 certifications, from dealing with hazardous materials to extinguishing fires. But most importantly, Roth says, they learn to work as a team. The academy is broken up into five squads and each student has a “battle buddy” who can’t leave their side, whether doing crunches, cramming for quizzes or running to the bathroom.

“What this academy is designed to do is teach them leadership,” Roth says. “You are looking at 22 future fire captains, fire teams, and chief officers.”

Back from a jog along the beach, the recruits line up behind huge tractor tires. In pairs the students flip the tires five times, do 20 pushups with their feet elevated on the tire and then race them back to the line. Next they throw a 25-pound coiled hose over their shoulder and run up the hill. The final fitness challenge: 20 more pushups and 20 crunches back at the bottom of the hill. Then it’s off to class.

Still wide-eyed and grinning from the intense morning of exercise, Scott Kniffin says he’s digging the academy. “I love it,” Kniffin says, “when I don’t puke.”

Kniffin is a 28-year-old maverick surfer from Santa Cruz. Even for this adrenaline junkie, there were times he thought about giving up. He says the hardest weekend was when he stayed up until 1am as part of a 12-hour day of fire control training. The next day he was up at 4am for an eight-mile run. “If you don’t have heart for this they definitely weed you out,” he says.

While most students are in their 20s, some are fresh from high school. At 18, Eric Carreiro is the youngest student in the academy. The tall and skinny Paso Robles resident explains that his father is a battalion chief with Cal Fire and he has always wanted to follow in his footsteps. “It’s hard,” he says. “It definitely shows me where I really am.”

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A half hour after physical training the students are dressed in pressed blue uniforms and shiny black boots at the Mid Carmel Valley Fire Station. They align their gear in rows and polish up their helmet and axes. The students take turns brushing off each other’s lint, trying not to get dirty in the dusty gravel parking lot.

The recruits stiffen when Division Chief Miles Schuler arrives holding an eight iron. Schuler meticulously inspects each student, using the golf club to peel back equipment. He whispers in Kniffin’s ear after he finds water spots on his boots. Schuler makes Kniffin hold up his boots at shoulder length while he makes his way down the row of students.

After the inspection, Schuler says, “If we don’t take care of our equipment it’s not going to take care of us. Understand?”

“Yes, sir!” The class roars back.

Schuler dismisses them to the classroom for an hour of lecture before field exercises. Today the students will do civilian rescue exercises, including one in a pitch-dark maze-like trailer.

All the skill tests are pass or fail. On exams, the students have to score at least an 80 percent to pass. Graduates then have to volunteer for a year or work full time for six months to receive a California Firefighter I certification.

But finding a job won’t be easy. Roth says when a spot comes open at a fire station, about 100 firemen apply.

Still, the academy ultimately gets around 85 percent of their recruits hired, says program director Natalie Rodda.

For now, though, getting through the academy is foremost on students’ minds – more than two months remain. When Carreiro gets worn out, he reflects on his original inspiration. “When it gets tough you go back to those dreams you had,” he says. “This is only temporary, but the pride you get out of it is forever.”