I’ll be the first to admit that I can suck down a tank of air quickly, but I never stopped trying to improve my performance and endurance so I wouldn’t be the first bell ringing!
NEW Fire Engineering Magazine cartoon for January.
Never be ashamed or discouraged to show your passion for the greatest calling known to man. Get excited when new nozzles arrive, and get even more excited to train and use them in structure fires. Know that it’s a privilege to put on that badge every morning. Feel the responsibility and pride of an engineer, because literally everything rides on you. Aspire to earn trust and respect as a leader.
As the late Hyannis Captain Tom Kenney would say, “It’s okay to love the job!”
New series of vintage fire apparatus illustrations!
During my 28 years in the fire service my favorite job was, and still is, driving the apparatus. It’s what drew me into the fire service and I couldn’t wait to sit in the left front seat. I loved being a back-step firefighter and eventually an officer, but nothing compares to my time as a chauffeur. Like you, I just LOVE fire trucks!
So, naturally it would become a new passion of mine as an artist. I welcome you to check out the current fleet here – SO EXCITED!
Firefighters find a way to solve any problem. This is not an office profession where you can simply push the paper to the next person in line to fix an issue—to pass the buck. It’s you, it’s your crew, and whatever needs solved—it’s as simple as that—and we love it! My wife often comments that I create problems just to solve them, and I’m sure that’s an honest assessment that could be pinned to most firefighters. And our ability to solve a problem is only limited by our creativity and the tools and talent at hand. We strive in moments of stress not just because we’ve been trained to do so, but by some primal need that craves the challenge. From the trivial to life/death situations, we find a way to fix it… always!
STAY FIRED UP, and keep your passion for challenges—it’s what makes us special.
If there’s one thing firefighters and EMT/Paramedics can be assured of, is we will see the craziest and strangest things mankind can throw our way. It’s a delicate balance between keeping our sincere empathy for our patients and hardening our minds for what mania may happen on every shift or pager call. It can be daunting, and strangely calming at times.