Norwich - More than 20 firefighters raced to stretch, haul and reel in hoses and sprinted up and down steep stairwells Thursday morning - not to fight a fire but to make themselves ready for the occasion.

"I call this 'all fired up boot camp for firefighters,'" trainer Chris Baillargeon said during a few-second interval in the hour-long workout in the central fire station garage. "When I say that, they say 'shut up.'"

Baillargeon Athletics started the Fitness Boot Camp for the city paid fire department in May and will start to judge results as the program winds down in the next few weeks. Firefighters will weigh in next week and the biggest loser will receive a $100 cash prize from Baillargeon. He said some have lost more than 20 pounds during the four-month program.

Participants Thursday said the real reward is how they feel.

With music blaring from a small boombox, Baillargeon led a fast-paced workout that started with jumping jacks, progressed through push-ups, weightlifting, stretching, running drills with hoses dragged over shoulders and sprints up and down the station's staircase.

In another drill, each firefighter grabbed the two ends of a hose wrapped around a post and slapped it hard to the ground several times before giving the hose to the next man in line.

"This is the best thing that's happened here as far as physical fitness goes," said Lt. Doug Smith, 54, the senior member of the Norwich Fire Department. "This program with an organized instructor gives us a better program than we had before."

Chief Kenneth Scandariato, who also participates, said he receives $2,000 per year for fitness equipment, but didn't want to just buy more equipment this year. He discussed it with union officials and they agreed a fitness program would be best. The union contributed funds to help cover the $1,000 per month cost.

"This is the best program I've seen in 30 years," Scandariato said.

Although the program has run only for a short time, Scandariato said he believes it already has reduced firefighter injuries and workers' compensation costs to the city.

Baillargeon sat down with the chief before the program started to design workouts that would best benefit firefighters, building up the muscles, strength and stamina they would need to fight a large fire on a hot day.

Baillargeon also runs Fitness Bootcamps for the public at World Gym in Norwich and offers team sports programs and youth programs.

Throughout Thursday's session, Baillargeon repeatedly told participants to "listen to your bodies" and slow down when they needed and to pace themselves for the hour-long workout. At other times, he told them to go as fast as they could to complete a drill and offered one-minute water and Gatorade breaks between exercises, shifting the workout from inside the truck garage to the outside parking lot.

"If you asked me to do this now without having done the workouts, I'd be dead right now," Lt. Lauren Casady said halfway through the workout. He said before signing up for the Fitness Bootcamp, he worked out sporadically.

"Those guys on shift, get something back in that body," he shouted. "Get some water, get some Gatorade. If you're a little sore tomorrow, do some light activities, go up stairs, do some weight training."

Baillargeon, a Norwich resident, praised the fire department for committing to the program and said the results will show on the job with more strength and stamina to race into buildings wearing full packs, dragging hoses and rescuing fire victims. Because they are more fit, they also will recover faster from one workout to another, or from one fire to the next, he said.

The program also includes off-day training counseling and nutritional counseling.

But as it winds down, Scandariato said he has no funding to continue it for another four months or longer. He said firefighters who participate might be willing to contribute to the program. In the long run, however, he thinks the best option would be to train a few firefighters to lead the workouts and run the program internally.

"This is fantastic," firefighter Michael Dziavit said. "It's definitely helping me maintain a high level of fitness. Chris brings an intensity level to the workout."

c.bessette@theday.com