On top of that, rookie firefighters must complete training at the companies in which they serve.

At 8:46 a.m., Jules Naudet, a rookie filmmaker making a film about a rookie firefighter, was practicing his camera work.

Indeed, several weeks ago, Mr. Scoppetta himself suspended, but did not dismiss, a rookie firefighter who tested positive for marijuana use.

The Fire Department routinely administers drug tests to job applicants and to rookie firefighters as they finish their first year on the job.

Tony Lombardo, 37, laughed with tears in his eyes as he described how "bop," coincidentally, is what veterans call rookie firefighters.

Michael C. Reilly, 25, a marine who had served in Iraq and a rookie firefighter who started in July, died the day before.

A rookie firefighter named William O'Connor waved down at his family.

That brings rookie firefighters nearly to the $36,878 they were paid before the last contract was reached in October 2005.

Another is luring a rookie firefighter into a rope maneuver and leaving him dangling indefinitely in the hole.

Played through a first-person perspective it follows a rookie firefighter belonging to a fictional fire house called "Company 13."