Exclusive | Trump came to Long Island to thank first-responders I saw first-hand how hard their jobs really are

Life for the Nassau County Fire Service Academy trainees who got a personal thank-you from President Trump last week is far from glamorous — but just try to extinguish their drive.The volunteer trainees spend grueling weeks dousing set-up blazes and crawling around in pitch-black, close-quarter indoor mazes at 120 degrees or higher to prepare to keep Long Islanders safe when they need it most.“I don’t call it brave.

I call it committed,” Chief Instructor Paul Wilders told The Post.“If we teach you how to do it safely … it’s not about feeling brave anymore.

It’s about feeling confident.”The Post spent a recent day in the life of the all-volunteer force, which deploys graduates across Nassau’s 70 departments after what’s usually three hours of once-a-week training in hellish temperatures for about four months.The group’s work is so commendable that Trump acknowledged its members with a wave and shout-out “thank you” during a visit to the Nassau County Police Academy on Friday to bolster GOP gubernatorial hopeful and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.“We have people from other counties come to our academy because the training is so realistic,” said Wilders, also commissioner of the North Merrick Fire Department.Days after the presidential visit, departments from all over Nassau banded together for search and rescue during a rare Long Island tornado and to aid people trapped in their cars on flooded roadways and parking lots during Thursday night’s wild storms.The next generation of heroes work in all kinds of environments at the Old Bethpage facility, from houses to getting on ladder trucks for high-floor buildings, simulated burning warehouses and boats and an actual LIRR car for train fires.Medical and hazmat training are also major parts of certification, as Wilders is phasing in training for more modern issues such as fires spawned by electric vehicles. The Nassau academy also stands out for using “live fuel packages”...