So You Want To Be A Firefighter

So, You Want to be a firefighter? Maybe not. Before you become one of us, we want you to know what you do not. We cannot offer you the pay or benefit packages of more typical employers. That's why we're called "public servants" and "volunteers". You should also know that you "volunteer" to belong- everything that follows in the fire service is "mandatory". It has to be. The services we provide quite literally involve life and death, including your own.

Fire departments are not social clubs. The days of the "good old boys", "bearded wonders" , and "banquet firemen" are gone. It has to be. Buildings burn with more intensity, hazardous material content, and risk of collapse than ever before. Other organizations exist to fulfill your "party" needs.

Belonging will be time-consuming. Training. More training. Always training. Fire fighting is a "gamble". The only means you have of placing the "odds" in your favor is education. Knowing how fire burns, clues of color and smoke, building construction and all the other things that must be learned may save your life, and the lives of others.

It also takes time to respond to alarms, do your duty, and then get all the equipment and tools of the trade back in service. The work doesn't end when the fire goes out. Time is needed for station and vehicle maintenance, prevention, inspections, investigations, record keeping, parades, and fundraisers (there is never enough money). Time...the fire service requires lots of time.

Firefighting is physically demanding. Not all of the time- just each time you step foot on the truck to answer a call. Your heart pounds, adrenalin flows, and if you are sane, you are also scared. You'll wear almost 50 pounds of protective equipment. While wearing it, you will pull, push, climb, stretch, carry, lift, crouch, crawl, and breathe harder than you thought possible. Smoke and soot become your cologne. You will learn a new meaning of what it is to be truly "cold", "hot", "sore", and "tired". You may bleed, you will sweat, and sometimes; you will shed tears.

Firefighting can be ugly. It can be blinding bright or blinding dark. It can be deadly silent, or have a deafening roar. You will see suffering and carnage in fires of the future- like those before.

So, you still want to be a firefighter? Then you might make it, you can make it; many have. The "bad" in firefighting is part of the "good". It is what makes us different. We do what others can't. If you become one of us, you'll share challenges, comradery, and when we're successful, a sense of accomplishment that is second to none.

Your family becomes ours; and ours becomes yours. In our breed, you will experience an often strange sense of humor, and you'll develop pride. Not boastful, bragging, cocky pride; rather an inner pride known only by those who have worn the gear. You will develop a respect for your co-workers across the nation, and for their job, that exists in no other profession.

It is often said that "firefighting gets in your blood". That's not true. If you become one of us, it gets in your heart.

M.W.Morehead
This article appeared in the Jan. 1992 Edition of "Ohio Fireman"

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