My son, who is 16, is a Jr. Volunteer at the local, all volunteer, fire department. He's had all the training necessary to fight exterior fires, and is waiting to turn 18 so that he can work on learning about fighting interior fires.

I have a friend that is the Captain for the Washington Township Fire Department near my hometown. He had read a FB update I posted about my son and his journey to become a firefighter. It has been 25 or more years since he and I physically have talked to each other, but he felt the need to offer my son an opportunity to ride along with him during a 15 hour shift, going on fire as well as EMS calls. My son jumped at the chance to go with him this past Friday.

Apparently the department recently acquired a new aerial unit...for $900,000. It has only been in service for a month, and he gave my son a training session on how to operate the unit. He was put behind the controls and was able to raise and extend the ladder as far as it would go, then retract and re-secure it a number of times, as well as work the side rams and such. He had a great time. After the 15 hour shift, an invitation for more ride-alongs were offered for his next visit.

My buddy told me that if my son ever moves back to the area, to contact him about being hired. Of course there will be more training first, but that offer impressed me.

To be honest, I was unsure about him wanting to take this path in life...I didn't think he would be able to handle a fire, because of his surviving a massive house fire in the past. Surprisingly, he's stronger than I gave him credit for. When I questioned him about it, his reply was that there were a number of folks that risked their life for him, and that he felt the need to repay them by following in their footsteps. He is one heck of a kid, and I'm proud to call him son.

Here are a few photos of him operating the aerial.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Looks exciting!

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jp,
I think it's all good. It's impressive that your Son has an interest and focus on this vocation. As long as his horizons for other interests remains open, all is good, IMO. What about the potential dangers in working with this equipment, and going on actual emergency runs/calls? It would be ashamed if he was injured in some way during these internship exposures. Just wondering if you've got this covered in awareness, that's all. Great sharing here! THX !

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

If you're talking about just the ride-alongs, they won't allow him to do anything but observe. However, he is exposed to dangers anytime the local fire department's alarm goes off. He's certified by the state to fight exterior fires, as well as other firefighter duties. He was dealing with a fire a few weeks ago that put him at the end of a nozzle, covering the outside of a structure while seasoned firefighters were inside of it.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

I think firefighting is a noble profession. My brother in law has been a fireman/paramedic going on 25 years now. I always thought it was some what of a glamorous job.

It is a hard hard job. He has talked about PTSD in his job. He see things that are hard to see. He told me of a rescue they were called to. There was an infant involved (I do not recall the circumstances. The infant was dead but they had to perform CPR and other measures on him till he was called. My brother in law was handed the body and was doing chest compressions in the back of the ambulance. After ward he was at the station and was out back just taking some quiet time and he told me he just broke down. Said he had not done that in years.

He has seen bodies in all manner of disfigurement. Young, old .. male and female. He has been in situations where he was pretty sure it was going to be the end. He has had multiple injuries on duty. Some quite severe.

I think he loves what he does and by all accounts he is very very good at what he does. He does not do it for the money (it sucks for what he has to go through) and there is no glamour (according to him). When they are not on calls they are working out, drills, training... etc. Twenty four hour shift and they work pretty much all 24 hrs. Very little down time.

I suspect different municipalities will have different experiences. I guess as long as your son knows what he he is getting into it's a good life. Hard but rewarding.

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Very impressive. My Dad's neighbor and best friend was fire chief for a large suburb. He told me one time that a real fireman couldn't stand to see anything burn. Your sons fire experience as a child might have given him this instinct. Your friend that gave him the ride might have sensed or discovered that instinct in him.

I trained as a Firefighter Medic after retirement and worked at it as both career and volunteer for about 12 years. Rewarding is an understatement. I love it and if I had known how much I would I may have been doing it all my life.

It is a noble life choice for your son. Unfortunately, society seems to always pay those it needs most the least money. So long as he is prepared for that I envy him.

My friend is the Captain of 5 stations in the township. He and I discussed a moment of panic in my son's first in-house smoke training as lead man. What normally takes the average first timer a half hour to make it through the course, he did it in fifteen minutes. When he came home, he was visibly shaken, and didn't think he could go on. I explained that just as I caught him when he jumped out of the window, his team would never leave him behind. I also told him that if, after another week of classes, he decided to quit, that there would be no shame in it. I explained this to my buddy, and he said that there isn't a firefighter or rescue worker alive that doesn't suffer from PTSD. He spoke to my son via Facebook, and he gave my son confidence in himself.

My dad was a volunteer. During the Great Xenia Tornado in 1974, a call was put out for every available rescue units to come help. The first bodies he came across were of children the same age as my older brother and me. It was a memory that haunted him for years.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Hes got a bright future. Someone with true drive at that age towards a goal has a serious advantage.

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It takes a great mom and dad to create a great son. There are times when a parent does it alone and they too are great. Congratulations.

It's not been easy to get him to this point. I gained custody 4 years ago back in October. He was a mess when I got him...very, very socially retarded. He had no idea how he was supposed to act in public, and was very immature. Since then, I've shown him how to be a respectable young man. Now, on the rare occasions that he see his mother (once a year for a few days at a time), she and her family are shocked at what he has become.

His grandfather on his mother's side used to speak hatefully to him, treat him like he was worthless, etc. Now, his grandfather has a new found respect for him. His grandfather called me on Monday after spending the long weekend with his mother, just to tell me that I have done what he now knows was impossible to happen with his daughter...turned the immature male child into a hell of a young man...one that he's like to know better. As odd as it sounds, it made me prouder of my son. He proved to the head of that family that my teachings and ways were superior to his daughter's. He went on to admit that he was wrong about me...it's not that I lived my life to please him, but hearing things like that, after a nasty divorce and 9 long years of even nastier custody battles, make up for the pain that was inflicted. It proves that which I always believed...my kids were worth the battle. He and his sisters prove that often to me.

Yeah, I'm a proud Pops...that goes without saying.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

He will grow into a man who will do righteous things. I hope he continues on this path. One thing, as I have known many fire fighters over the years: strength. All that I knew are very strong physically. How's his strength and his propensity to work out to keep physically able to do the job? If he likes physical challenges, that seems to be a big part of it too.

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He's got a decent amount of strength now, and works out when he's able to at the school's weight room. He's one of those types that has the strength, but not the bulk...yet.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles