Well for me I have loved this "business" since i was a youngster. I live a block away from the station so I can rember when the siren went off i'd rush over to the window and watch all the men rush over to the station jump on the trucks and head out!
I was always captivated how when the siren goes off people come from where ever and drop everything to help in most cases people we dont even know!
I have always had this saying "that the you don't pick the job the job picks you!" We are a different breed of people we care when others could careless! It's not always easy but that's why I love it.
It started with me when i was about 4 years old. We lived beside a fire station and they had the big tower on the top and when they got a call someone would go up the tower and ring a giant bell and everyone would come.
I used to hear that and go running outside to watch.
Like everyone says it's a calling. When i started my training for the fire service my brother (which was a firefighter) was killed in the line of duty in a house fire. Attending his funeral really drove the point home of the "brotherhood". There where firefighter there from several states away, they didn't know him at all, but i could see the pain in all of them as if it was there brother, it was then it connected.....he was there brother.
Every since then every time i hear of a LODD i get that feeling in the pit of my gut, which i suspect is what all of them were felling at my brothers funeral.
When a house down the road from me burned and I couldn't do anything about it, I had to change that feeling. Glad I did, I am now in the best extended family ever. I will never give this up. And the rush can't be beat. :)
The saying about the job picking me is exactly how I became a FF. I was with a friend of mine who was a FF, and rode with him to a structure fire in the engine. On scene watching all the guys that were fighting the fire I knew right then that I had to become one of them, and the rest as they say is history. The feeling of being able to help someone at what might be the worst time in their life is unreal.Once anyone gets into this job and they really want to make a difference, it starts a love of the job that last a lifetime. Being a FF is in my blood and I can't imagine doing anything else.
I have only been in the fire service for almost 2 years. My Dad was a firefighter when I was a kid and we lived directly across the street from the firehouse. My full time job is a hairdresser and I love my job because I love making people feel good about themselves, My part time job is selling Wildtree which is all natural foods to help people with staying healthy, So I would have to say being a volunteer firefighter is very rewarding in helping people to serve and protect.... Nothing makes me feel better than doing for others.
Where else can you get paid good money to break s**t? No,seriously,this business grows on ya. You start out wanting to help people and wind up ensnarled in this big semi dysfunctional family we call the brotherhood.You travel around the country or countries and find out that your "problems"aren't unique. If you do it right,there's a lot of information to be gained and a good meal or two along the way.And if you can crack a few "stones"(good naturedly)along the way,all the better.
Everything and then some. I dont know about you but when a guy comes up to me in a bar and tells me he's a fire man I say "So? I'm a fire woman nice to meet you."
I love being a fire fighter and 1st responder because i feel that i can help someone when they are at their worst. I have a strong passion for people. of course children really touch my heart because they have no idea what is really going on. for anyone that would lay their own life on the line to save another - i give my full respect. i wanted to know that i have done something positive for this crazy messed up world we live in (& for most of us the world we raise our kids in). i love what i do and i am grateful for all my fellow men and women (bros & sis) in this field!
Hmmm..I grew up dpwn the street from a fire house all the crew were in H.S. with my older sisters or lived on my street...I hung out in the bays every weekend and played stick ball behind it..as well as everything else including evil kenevil with my bike whole other story...I later went to be a cop..but a friend I worked with brought me to a local firehouse (this was after a few years already married) and i figured it was something to do ..once i got my first call..i was hooked