FireLink

i guess the colmination begain when I was 12. I was trapped in a house fire. Not a normal house. One of those with th skeleton key doors. I had just gotten home from camp and was watching TV. I heard an explsoion and went to the kitchen. The entire back wall was fully involved. The only unlocked door was on the same wall. I ran to the living room and called 911. My only exgress was a plat glass door. I had to grab a seat cushion and dive through it. I know it sounds dramatic but every bit is true.

About all of my falimy is in law enforcement and I just wanted to do something different so I got into fire and ems.

I actually wanted to join the Colorado State Patrol and met with an old friend who had started working for the fire department. The Phrase I remember the best is: "People hate cops....They love Firemen!". He told me to take a first responder class and then make my decision... The rest is history. Best choice I ever made.

Honestly I had 3 uncles that had been vol. firefighters but never asked questions. It was mainly a decision to help my community any way i could. Everyone can blame oohrah for letting me learn about being a firefighter as he started to go thru it and enjoyed it years ago.

Don't blame it on me. I didn't hold a gun to his head during basic firefighting. The bug, it bit him

i was in high school and my teacher/ fire chief asked me if i wanted to join and so here i am 5 years later.

MY EX WAS ON THE VOLUNTEER DEPT. AND EVERY TIME I HEARD A CALL DURING THE DAY AND NO ONE COULD GO CAUSE THEY WERE ALL AT THEIR OTHER JOBS IT BOTHERED ME( I WANTED TO JUMP AND RUN ) SO I DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO DO SOME THING ABOUT IT I JOINED AND HAD LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

I was on the playground in 3rd grade and saw a LAFD Engine open cab with a firefighter sitting in the seat clean and with a HUGE SMILE. I then remember looking down the street and seeing a house on fire. Recess was concluded very fast because of this. When all the action was done we were let back out and I saw the same firefighter this time dirty and bloody but with the same HUGE SMILE. Seeing this I had a weird feeling inside like this is my calling. Little did I know when I hit the fifth grade I went to visit my dad at work (I thought all dads were gone for a day) pulling up to an LAFD fire station. When me and my mom arrived they had a run and I saw my dad with the same smile on his face when he waved to us. When they can back same thing all dirty and bloody but with that same HUGE SMILE. Even his last day on duty when he passed away they guys said he had the same smile on his face.

When we go on a run and I see my reflection on a window of a business I see that same HUGE SMILE on my face not only do I work with a GREAT DEPT , CREW, EQUIPMENT but I also serve the community I grew up in.

Like most, it was a childhood dream. As I grew older though, I went down the wrong path and didnt pursue my dream. Finally, I got away from that life and matured a little :) Now I am a probie for a volumteer dept.

I've hung around the fire department since I was about 11 years old. All of my friends are firefighters. When I was dating my last boyfriend, he is a firefighter and an EMT and I became even more interested in the field. No one in my family has ever been in the fire service. I wanted to share the experience of being a firefighter with my exboyfriend. I plan on staying in the emergency services field for a very long time, and making it a family tradition.

I have grown up around the firehouse/fire service. My father, grandfather, grandmother, and uncle are all members of the fire dept. that I am now a part of. I joined after a family in my church had their house burn. When my father and I heard the call, we both left, him as a firefighter and myself as a helping hand as I was not part of the dept at the point. When we got there I was put to work doing whatever I could and somethings I shouldn't have done. After a little while the chief told me to step back, because enought mutal aid was on scene. That Tuesday night, I joined the Explorer post at the dept and within 6 months, I was voted in as a member. I had to wait a full year to take any classes because I left in the fall for college. This past summer I took FF1 and I will be taking FF Survival next week.

Right on!!

plosreh1 said:

Ever since I was little thats all i wanted to do.. When I was about 5 my moms house cought on fire, the only thing I remember Is sitting outside watching it burn to the ground. Its like I wanted to be two things growing up.. 1: a dinasaur and 2: a firefighter. Well you cant be a dinasaur so i pick the next best thing.. I dont recall anyone in my family being a firefighter so i guess i would be the pioneer per say... Its the feeling you get when those tones drop and you may be able to save someones life or something that is there life, I feel thats what its all about

It's kind of cool doing what you dreamed of being as a child.

The first spring after we moved to town (small rural area) a couple of guys showed up to ask if they could tap our maple trees. We chatted for a while - turns out they were both firefighters and asked if we'd like to volunteer. We accepted thinking there had to be some way of helping out down at the station - sweeping, mailings, whatever. Who knew they wanted to send us into burning buildings? ( We'd both grown up in towns with paid departments.)
At the time I'd spent years working in the commercial insurance (property & liability) industry. Lots of $$$ and talk about life safety and the protection of property. I decided to see what I could do to put my money (actually time) where my mouth was. Well, almost 15 years later....I'm Level II, Haz-Mat, EMT-I, RIT and the Fire Inspector. I also have the dubious distinction of being the first pregnant fire fighter the department ever had ... my first son was about 3 weeks old when he went to his first structure fire and hopefully, he'll join our Explorer program next year.
Be safe and have fun whenever possible.

My wife is an EMT-B and my father-in-law is the fire chief in a town about 15 miles away. I wanted to join the squad in his town but there was a waiting list. So I moved to Sibley and joined the dept here. The main reason i joined was to do my duty to my community and my family.