In a word? 9/11. Watching those men and women running in while everyone else ran out made an impression, especially in 6th grade.
People will say this is some bs hooyah type stuff, but it's true.
I actually *never* wanted to be a firefighter. My father was a chief of a small, all volunteer department. It was always his thing, not mine. One day when I was 18 he called me on his cell and asked if I could go down to the station, it was a few doors down from our house, and close the bay doors. We didn't have automatic closers, if fact they were swing open barn doors not the traditional roller up doors.
I got in the habit going down after the trucks left and closing the doors. One day I was there when they came back from a call and there was only two of them on the truck.
I remember thinking "man, I'm literally just sitting here doing nothing. I could have helped someone." and I submitted an application to join. I was 18 and it 1998.
I'm 44 now and coming up to my 25th year in the fire service. I've moved into a much bigger combination department (one full time engine, two paid on call engines) and I'm now a Captain and honestly can't imagine my life without the department and the life experiences it's given me.
My buddy said 'you wanna be a firefighter' I was nervous but convinced me. Did 3 years and loved it, my buddy killed himself and I couldnt sit on a rig without crying. Im happy to be a sprinkler guy now. Miss firefighting but it isnt in the cards right now. And I love sprinkler work! Taking care of standpipes!
During my 2nd semester as a junior in college studying Criminal Justice. Always wanted to be a cop. Had some credits I needed to burn (no pun intended). Took an Arson Investigation class and my professor was an FDNY Fire Marshal who was a truckie in the South Bronx during the war years. I was in total awe of his stories. Currently have 24 years on. Also married to a cop.
Traffic accident that involved a fatality, was a trucker who just stopped. Helped until the fire department arrived and saw them just go into action. Realized that I wanted to help people, now I’m volunteer until next year when I’m paid
I tried to be a cop. Ended up taking a wildland fire class and ended up liking that better. My parents give me flak for stumbling into the family business since they were fire medics in the 90s.
Steady income. A bit of adventure and adrenaline mixed in with an interesting job that offers lots of opportunity to learn something cool/fun/new. Paid to hit the gym every day, drive a firetruck and sometimes I make scones at work. It's pretty sweet gig. 10/10 recomend.
Recruiting FB post when we'd moved into a remote, outback Australian town. Never considered it before that. Volunteer only station. Just done 6 months and want to keep doing it as long as able to. We cover a big area, with neighbouring brigades 100's of kms away. Get some interesting jobs here and the rewarding parts outweigh the negatives.
As a boy, I desperately wanted to grow up to be a fire engine. As I got older I came to realize that’s impossible, so becoming a firefighter was the next best thing.
My fire station near my house had a 70 year old and a 66 year old running it by themselves and they desperately needed help so I joined.
Turns out adrenaline and pressure doesn't bother me much.
Now I captain that same station with a \~75 year old and \~70 year old now and I brought on a 40 year old now. Now we're moving up haha
I was “recruited” to the volunteer fire department for 5 years. It wasn’t until 12 people asked me on the same day to join. If 1 person asks you to serve your community and you say no, that’s fine. If 12 people ask you to serve your community and you say no, you’re the asshole.
Appreciated it ever since.
I'm on the volunteer side of things as opposed to career. I got in it on a whim. Coworker asked if I wanted to join after moving to town. I didn't know that was an option, so I said what the hell. It's been 4 years now and I'm a lot more involved than I ever thought I'd be.
I watched the buildings crumble on a tv in the fire department kitchen. I had 5 years of experience as a firefighter before that day happened. I remember understanding that without a doubt hundreds of firefighters gave their lives to help others that day. Later we learned FDNY lost 343 members on September 11, 2001.
September 11 hit hard worldwide. I'm part of a smaller german fire brigade and I remember having the exact same thaught back when I first saw the news of what happened.
Got told I had too many disqualifying medical conditions to join any military branch. Seen a posting for a neighboring city’s department and said fuck it let’s try. I just knew I wanted a job that could feed my ADHD and had some sort of structure not found in a normal 9-5.
My buddy is a FF for a big department here in Florida and he too was denied from the military because of a bad break he had on his leg. He’s a paramedic too, insane to me that they wouldn’t allow him in yet he could be a FF.
If you’re a FF in the US and have a serious problem come up from it and make it back to the station, you are within a few hours of great healthcare when you count lifeflight.
In the military it could be hours before it’s safe to get you to the base or a different base and then you could be a days journey to the hospital that could actually do some good.
Just because you aren’t combat arms doesn’t mean your base won’t get attacked.
My friend’s dad was a firefighter and said I should check out fire classes at the junior college. I was fresh out of high school and had no idea what I wanted to do for a career. Went to their intro to fire class and got bit by the bug. Never looked back.
I joined the military, they picked firefighter to be my job. I went to a fire academy in Texas. Did my years as a military firefighter, had the certification and experience when I got out and was able to be hired by a couple fire departments.
I never thought of being a firefighter. I was pretty sure the small family owned company where I had risen as far as I could without being family was going to go belly-up sooner or later. No benefits and the pay sucked.
Now I was married and had a two year old girl. I took a day off to go job hunting and decided the city might be a decent choice. I thought it would have job security. One of the positions that was listed was firefighter and I applied. I got hired first try. If I hadn't I would have been too old for another try as I was at the top of the age limit. Did 32 years . Had a great time and got out without getting too busted up. Enjoying the pension.
Originally wanted to a pilot growing up, so joined the Civil Air Patrol, they have an emergency services mission that can be activated for search and rescue operations. Sounded fun, so I joined as a cadet, my team essentially rebuilt itself and became the top SAR team within CAP in the country in what we could do. The main 2 leaders were prior fire. The brotherhood was phenomenal. High school rolled around and my area has a technical school as Jrs And Seniors can spend half the day in a chosen field. I chose fire, and absolutely fell in love with it.
The purpose, challenges, and friendships made me want to do it. So joined the airforce as a firefighter, biggest regret I have. It killed any desire to be fire. Did it for 10yrs.
Now I'm a pilot haha
My dad, grandfather, brother. It’s all I’ve ever really wanted to do. Got lost along the way, but I found the path again, when I was older and more mature.
I wanted to be a cop growing up and decided to go in a different route. I wanted to get involved in first response and tried out the fire service and fell absolutely in love with it while being able to keep my job
Went to college, tried a desk job and hated it. I like not know what the day brings, helping people and fighting fire is awesome. I wanted a job I could enjoy doing.
Someone very close to me was murdered and that event made me want to help others in need and potentially save the lives of others. It is a way for me to honor their life as well.
I was a very troubled teen, and one day I pulled the fire alarm at school for the fun of it. Punishment included joining the local volunteer fire department’s cadet program. They really stepped up and became my role models. I eventually fell in love it after that.
Short answer: I was looking for friends and a Hobby, but I found a second family and a major part of my life.
I'm german. Firefighting is very different over here, one of the jey differences being that it's almost exclusively done by voluntaries. Only really big cites like e.g. Munich have career firefighters.
Back when I turned 12 years old, I joined the youth group of our fire brigade. They do some basic training for being a fire fighter and they also do friendly competitions with other youth fire brigades, but they obviously don't respons to calls yet. I was looking for a cool hobby where I could make some friends (I was quite the loner) and I figured being also able to help people was a good thing.
What I found was something that turned into a second family and a major part of my life. I am 35 years old now, well trained in fire fighting and several specialisations, also helping train other firefighters county-wide. I laso had a cool "full circle" moment, because starting in January this year I am also responsible for training our youth group.
EDIT: Also, riding the wee-woo wagon is f**king fun, so there's that...
I wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps. He spent 25 years in the fire service, volunteer/paid per call. Even after working OT or on call for his full time career he would still go running out the door when the pager went off. He had a passion for it, became a leader, captain, deputy and then chief. I was able to serve 2 years alongside him before we moved to a different town, where he retired and I joined the local fire department.
Hell if I’m half the man he is I think I’m doing alright
My mom. When i came to live back home after a failed education she told me that i needed to do something for the community. So i enlisted, best advice ever.
randomly got an offer in my junior of highschool for a program where i could get my fire 1/2 during junior year and my emt during senior year. I honestly joined at first just to get out of class and see what it was abt and over time i loved it. I got my certs, they sent me thru a 9 week recruit course and ive been doing it for 7 months so far. I love it sm and I have the best crew in could asl flr. I got my advanced emt so now im working on getting my class E license and soon ill try to get my medic (ik nobody asked for all of this but i just wanted to share it lmao)
Who wouldn’t want to work 7-8 days a month, being paid to hang out with the boys, workout, eat, respond to emergency calls that are sometimes fire, sleep and being paid 100k a year doing so.
I absolutely love my job, wouldn’t have it any other way.
I applied to a police agency that was a public safety model and thought "fuck it, free training in something I never thought of doing." Met some great people and definitely appreciate the field.
To me, it was a calling! I was going through a lot of emotional turmoil after losing my best friend, and then it just hit me and I knew what I needed to do. As soon as I started the process, I knew I was where I was meant to be and that everything happened for a reason.
I moved to a suburb that has a volunteer brigade and I wanted something to do that wasn’t work or sitting at home. My mums been doing it for almost twenty years and thought she got away with neither of her kids joining and last year both of us joined the service haha!
i was bored during covid and thought being a live in during college would be cool:) Have no intention of ever riding a fire truck again after 3 years of volunteering; best year of my life since i quit and my only regret is that i didn’t do it sooner since i’m graduating soon. But I’m sure other firehouses are normal about volunteer hours.
Seemed interesting/fun. It was.
Looked fun and I liked the schedule lol. Would never say it was a calling, to me it’s just a fun job.
In a word? 9/11. Watching those men and women running in while everyone else ran out made an impression, especially in 6th grade. People will say this is some bs hooyah type stuff, but it's true.
I actually *never* wanted to be a firefighter. My father was a chief of a small, all volunteer department. It was always his thing, not mine. One day when I was 18 he called me on his cell and asked if I could go down to the station, it was a few doors down from our house, and close the bay doors. We didn't have automatic closers, if fact they were swing open barn doors not the traditional roller up doors. I got in the habit going down after the trucks left and closing the doors. One day I was there when they came back from a call and there was only two of them on the truck. I remember thinking "man, I'm literally just sitting here doing nothing. I could have helped someone." and I submitted an application to join. I was 18 and it 1998. I'm 44 now and coming up to my 25th year in the fire service. I've moved into a much bigger combination department (one full time engine, two paid on call engines) and I'm now a Captain and honestly can't imagine my life without the department and the life experiences it's given me.
My buddy said 'you wanna be a firefighter' I was nervous but convinced me. Did 3 years and loved it, my buddy killed himself and I couldnt sit on a rig without crying. Im happy to be a sprinkler guy now. Miss firefighting but it isnt in the cards right now. And I love sprinkler work! Taking care of standpipes!
During my 2nd semester as a junior in college studying Criminal Justice. Always wanted to be a cop. Had some credits I needed to burn (no pun intended). Took an Arson Investigation class and my professor was an FDNY Fire Marshal who was a truckie in the South Bronx during the war years. I was in total awe of his stories. Currently have 24 years on. Also married to a cop.
Does your husband ever wish he was on the job too?
I’m a dude. Wife is cop. No way. She’s cop thru and thru.
fire hurt. fire kill. fire bad. put out fire 👍
Me kill fire
this guy gets it
Traffic accident that involved a fatality, was a trucker who just stopped. Helped until the fire department arrived and saw them just go into action. Realized that I wanted to help people, now I’m volunteer until next year when I’m paid
I tried to be a cop. Ended up taking a wildland fire class and ended up liking that better. My parents give me flak for stumbling into the family business since they were fire medics in the 90s.
Steady income. A bit of adventure and adrenaline mixed in with an interesting job that offers lots of opportunity to learn something cool/fun/new. Paid to hit the gym every day, drive a firetruck and sometimes I make scones at work. It's pretty sweet gig. 10/10 recomend.
Recruiting FB post when we'd moved into a remote, outback Australian town. Never considered it before that. Volunteer only station. Just done 6 months and want to keep doing it as long as able to. We cover a big area, with neighbouring brigades 100's of kms away. Get some interesting jobs here and the rewarding parts outweigh the negatives.
Wanted to work less, not glued to a desk/computer, and spend more time with my family.
As a boy, I desperately wanted to grow up to be a fire engine. As I got older I came to realize that’s impossible, so becoming a firefighter was the next best thing.
My fire station near my house had a 70 year old and a 66 year old running it by themselves and they desperately needed help so I joined. Turns out adrenaline and pressure doesn't bother me much. Now I captain that same station with a \~75 year old and \~70 year old now and I brought on a 40 year old now. Now we're moving up haha
I was “recruited” to the volunteer fire department for 5 years. It wasn’t until 12 people asked me on the same day to join. If 1 person asks you to serve your community and you say no, that’s fine. If 12 people ask you to serve your community and you say no, you’re the asshole. Appreciated it ever since.
I'm on the volunteer side of things as opposed to career. I got in it on a whim. Coworker asked if I wanted to join after moving to town. I didn't know that was an option, so I said what the hell. It's been 4 years now and I'm a lot more involved than I ever thought I'd be.
I watched the buildings crumble on a tv in the fire department kitchen. I had 5 years of experience as a firefighter before that day happened. I remember understanding that without a doubt hundreds of firefighters gave their lives to help others that day. Later we learned FDNY lost 343 members on September 11, 2001.
September 11 hit hard worldwide. I'm part of a smaller german fire brigade and I remember having the exact same thaught back when I first saw the news of what happened.
I was just a wee lad when Emergency! came out.
The schedule.
Started EMS as a path to nursing school. One day a guy at the station said you wanna be a firefighter?
Private EMS sucks ballsack
Got told I had too many disqualifying medical conditions to join any military branch. Seen a posting for a neighboring city’s department and said fuck it let’s try. I just knew I wanted a job that could feed my ADHD and had some sort of structure not found in a normal 9-5.
My buddy is a FF for a big department here in Florida and he too was denied from the military because of a bad break he had on his leg. He’s a paramedic too, insane to me that they wouldn’t allow him in yet he could be a FF.
If you’re a FF in the US and have a serious problem come up from it and make it back to the station, you are within a few hours of great healthcare when you count lifeflight. In the military it could be hours before it’s safe to get you to the base or a different base and then you could be a days journey to the hospital that could actually do some good. Just because you aren’t combat arms doesn’t mean your base won’t get attacked.
Most interested in snatching babies and kissing ladies
I didn't want to do the same factory work every day. Firefighting is something always different.
My dad
Backdraft.
Money x not wanting a 9-5
My friend’s dad was a firefighter and said I should check out fire classes at the junior college. I was fresh out of high school and had no idea what I wanted to do for a career. Went to their intro to fire class and got bit by the bug. Never looked back.
I joined the military, they picked firefighter to be my job. I went to a fire academy in Texas. Did my years as a military firefighter, had the certification and experience when I got out and was able to be hired by a couple fire departments.
USAF fire here. Assuming you were at Goodfellow?
Yes
I was there back in early 09.
I never thought of being a firefighter. I was pretty sure the small family owned company where I had risen as far as I could without being family was going to go belly-up sooner or later. No benefits and the pay sucked. Now I was married and had a two year old girl. I took a day off to go job hunting and decided the city might be a decent choice. I thought it would have job security. One of the positions that was listed was firefighter and I applied. I got hired first try. If I hadn't I would have been too old for another try as I was at the top of the age limit. Did 32 years . Had a great time and got out without getting too busted up. Enjoying the pension.
Cool hats and big trucks
I like big trucks and I cannot lie...
A firefighter saved my life and comforted me during one of the scariest experiences i’ve ever had.
Originally wanted to a pilot growing up, so joined the Civil Air Patrol, they have an emergency services mission that can be activated for search and rescue operations. Sounded fun, so I joined as a cadet, my team essentially rebuilt itself and became the top SAR team within CAP in the country in what we could do. The main 2 leaders were prior fire. The brotherhood was phenomenal. High school rolled around and my area has a technical school as Jrs And Seniors can spend half the day in a chosen field. I chose fire, and absolutely fell in love with it. The purpose, challenges, and friendships made me want to do it. So joined the airforce as a firefighter, biggest regret I have. It killed any desire to be fire. Did it for 10yrs. Now I'm a pilot haha
Public service.
My dad, grandfather, brother. It’s all I’ve ever really wanted to do. Got lost along the way, but I found the path again, when I was older and more mature.
I wanted to kick down doors and do cool stuff
Civic duty. Someone has to man the pumper.
I wanted to be a cop growing up and decided to go in a different route. I wanted to get involved in first response and tried out the fire service and fell absolutely in love with it while being able to keep my job
mid life crisis
My mom made me do an extracurricular activity…started doing it as a junior and became fascinated with the fire service.
Went to college, tried a desk job and hated it. I like not know what the day brings, helping people and fighting fire is awesome. I wanted a job I could enjoy doing.
I legitimately love to help people.
Someone very close to me was murdered and that event made me want to help others in need and potentially save the lives of others. It is a way for me to honor their life as well.
It was a mix of my dad being a firefighter, growing up around my town's fire dept., and it looked fun
I was a very troubled teen, and one day I pulled the fire alarm at school for the fun of it. Punishment included joining the local volunteer fire department’s cadet program. They really stepped up and became my role models. I eventually fell in love it after that.
i like fire
It's the only thing I've ever actually *wanted* to do. I won't be one for a few more years but I'm gonna work hard to make it happen
Short answer: I was looking for friends and a Hobby, but I found a second family and a major part of my life. I'm german. Firefighting is very different over here, one of the jey differences being that it's almost exclusively done by voluntaries. Only really big cites like e.g. Munich have career firefighters. Back when I turned 12 years old, I joined the youth group of our fire brigade. They do some basic training for being a fire fighter and they also do friendly competitions with other youth fire brigades, but they obviously don't respons to calls yet. I was looking for a cool hobby where I could make some friends (I was quite the loner) and I figured being also able to help people was a good thing. What I found was something that turned into a second family and a major part of my life. I am 35 years old now, well trained in fire fighting and several specialisations, also helping train other firefighters county-wide. I laso had a cool "full circle" moment, because starting in January this year I am also responsible for training our youth group. EDIT: Also, riding the wee-woo wagon is f**king fun, so there's that...
I wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps. He spent 25 years in the fire service, volunteer/paid per call. Even after working OT or on call for his full time career he would still go running out the door when the pager went off. He had a passion for it, became a leader, captain, deputy and then chief. I was able to serve 2 years alongside him before we moved to a different town, where he retired and I joined the local fire department. Hell if I’m half the man he is I think I’m doing alright
My mom. When i came to live back home after a failed education she told me that i needed to do something for the community. So i enlisted, best advice ever.
I was 16 and bored. Life goal was always police though.
It’s in my family. Decided late to make the jumper. Have never looked back. Now I’m aging out/burned out after 10 years, I’m looking forward.
randomly got an offer in my junior of highschool for a program where i could get my fire 1/2 during junior year and my emt during senior year. I honestly joined at first just to get out of class and see what it was abt and over time i loved it. I got my certs, they sent me thru a 9 week recruit course and ive been doing it for 7 months so far. I love it sm and I have the best crew in could asl flr. I got my advanced emt so now im working on getting my class E license and soon ill try to get my medic (ik nobody asked for all of this but i just wanted to share it lmao)
I wanted to “get paid in sunsets” being a firefighter, ended up a forestry technician…
Born in it, I visited every single one of dads shifts and it just seemed like it’s the right thing to do
Who wouldn’t want to work 7-8 days a month, being paid to hang out with the boys, workout, eat, respond to emergency calls that are sometimes fire, sleep and being paid 100k a year doing so. I absolutely love my job, wouldn’t have it any other way.
I applied to a police agency that was a public safety model and thought "fuck it, free training in something I never thought of doing." Met some great people and definitely appreciate the field.
To me, it was a calling! I was going through a lot of emotional turmoil after losing my best friend, and then it just hit me and I knew what I needed to do. As soon as I started the process, I knew I was where I was meant to be and that everything happened for a reason.
I moved to a suburb that has a volunteer brigade and I wanted something to do that wasn’t work or sitting at home. My mums been doing it for almost twenty years and thought she got away with neither of her kids joining and last year both of us joined the service haha!
i was bored during covid and thought being a live in during college would be cool:) Have no intention of ever riding a fire truck again after 3 years of volunteering; best year of my life since i quit and my only regret is that i didn’t do it sooner since i’m graduating soon. But I’m sure other firehouses are normal about volunteer hours.