Stepping off the roof of a six-story building is key to this lesson.

One-by-one, fresh trainees in the Urban Search and Rescue program at the Broward Fire Academy in Davie strap into a harness and repel vertically the full length of a structure. Way before their feet touch the ground, however, these students are required to hang around for awhile.

They're up high, learning the ropes -- literally. At one point, an instructor directs them to let go, lean back and dangle upside down.

``Your hands are behind your head as you're looking down,'' says trainee Daniel Mollinedo, a Fort Lauderdale firefighter who lives in Miami.

Mollinedo has already put in nine years as a firefighter. Repelling, however, was a brand new -- and challenging -- experience.

``You're tentative to think that a rope is going to hold you,'' he says.

The program is packed with exciting, physically-demanding lessons. Firefighters who sign up for the extra training practice using the tools and techniques they'll need to be eligible for positions on local, state or federal search-and-rescue teams that are deployed for earthquakes, hurricanes and fallen buildings.

Mollinedo, for example, wants to join his city fire department's Technical Rescue Team.

``It's something that's always captured my attention,'' he says. ``I've been a firefighter almost 10 years. Now I want to continue to do my firefighting part and [also] do something else.''

In addition to rope rescue training, the program includes lessons on maneuvering in tight spaces, breaking through barriers of steel or concrete and tunneling among piles of hefty debris.

The full slate of training at the Broward Fire Academy is 384 hours. Much of it involves exercises that simulate real-life scenarios, such as searching for victims in a collapsed building.

Students role play with props and mannequins. They use real machinery to slice into vehicles and cut through concrete. Some of the practice sessions are on the sixth floor of the Fire Academy's training tower, which is designed to mimic the inside of a collapsed building.

While some private institutions offer similar training, the Broward Fire Academy is part of McFatter Technical School in Davie and its program is among the few in Florida run by a public school district, according to academy officials.

Another rope-rescue rookie in a recent class was Daniel Gamiotea, a firefighter and paramedic for the city of Sunrise.

``I have never repelled before, and it was scary at first, but after gaining confidence, it was very fun,'' he says.

Gamiotea wanted to enroll in the training so he could join his department's Special Operations Team. When he does, he'll be among thousands of firefighters from South Florida and elsewhere who have completed the program since it was established at the Broward Fire Academy in 1995.

``To me, it's just a unique breed of individuals,'' says Walter Knapp, the program's coordinator.

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