Hot stuff, cool ‘Cats

Suited in their gear and ready to wrestle the flames, they are like every other nationally-trained firefighter, prepared to sacrifice themselves to protect their community. Yet, beneath their helmets and suits, these firemen are also GCSU students.

At the local Baldwin County Fire and Rescue Station there are a handful of GCSU students who are trained volunteer firefighters. Whether during classes or in the middle of the night, they are firefighters equipped and willing to respond to a call.

Matt Cook, a senior athletic training major, has been a certified fireman since February 2007.

“Firefighting was always something I wanted to do,” Cook said. “My dad was a firefighter in Atlanta and just retired after working for 26 years.”

Kevin Sheehan, a senior business management major and firefighter since 2007, also has a family tradition of firefighting.

“My dad and my grandfather were both firemen and that kind of steered me into it,” Sheehan said.

To become a certified fireman all rookies must endure a 160-hour training course, from learning how to roll up the hose to how to vent a roof under extreme pressure. They meet twice a week for five hours each, taking over 16 weeks to complete.

When finished earning their certification, they only need to fill out paper work to become a full-time fireman.

“The training requires a lot of physical exertion,” Cook said. “The heat and weight of firefighting can require a lot of strength.”

Shortly after receiving his certification in early March, Evan Karanovich, a sophomore management major, got a call that night to a fully involved structure fire across from Baldwin High School.

“This was my first – outside of training – live fire,” Karanovich said. “I hadn’t even received my gear yet, but I responded and began to catch the hydrant to attach to the engine. I knew from that point on exactly what I was getting into. It would be a lot of work, but all for a worthy cause.”

An unpredictable and tedious job, these volunteers only get reimbursed $10 per call. Yet, many of them admit that there is no other job as fulfilling.

Nate Bressler, a sophomore business management major, reminisced about an experience he had last week with another firefighter.

“The other day I was the first to respond to a call about a barn on fire,” Bressler said. “After locating the barn and parking the car, we are walking up the driveway to access the situation when we see a little girl just standing there. She said, ‘Hi Mr. Fireman.’

This was the first time someone in the community recognized me as a fireman. Later, as I found myself running in all my bunker gear, getting to make entry with my air pack on, and putting the fire out, it was the first time I felt like I was really doing something worthwhile.”

Yet, these firefighters are full-time students too. They take classes just like regular students do. Juggling these two duties can be very difficult. Cook said most of his professors recognize his situation.

“Most of my teachers are understanding when I have to go, which is usually when it’s a structure fire that requires more volunteers,” Cook said. “It’s frustrating because you want to go to all your calls, but class comes first.”

Cook has had many instances of firefighting that have left an impression on him. One last year was his best experience yet, he said.

“I responded to a fire at a larger, older house. There was fire coming out of two sides. Six feet inside the door, I couldn’t see anything. Thermal balance felt like it was 1,200 degrees,” Cook said. “I used thermal imaging to see the fire source and after 15 minutes we had it knocked out. After that I was exhausted but satisfied.”

However, being a fireman can also be a sad, difficult job. It isn’t all house or barn fires, many involve accidents. Before they had specific medical response calls, some volunteer firemen arrived at scenes that had injured or non-responsive victims who they were unable to help.

“You will always have something that sticks with you,” Bressler said. “It’s not what does, it’s when. Everyone sees something you won’t forget. I’m lucky because I haven’t yet. But when I do, we have people to talk to about it.”

For many of these student volunteer firefighters their station is like home to them. By working side-by-side in these situations these men are very close.

“In a way, the fire station is like a fraternity, we get so close and pick on one another all the time,” Cook said.

Overall, being a student volunteer firefighter is no easy task or light-hearted service. But like other firefighters, the students are prepared to aid their community.

“It never becomes natural running into a house in flames, especially when everyone else would generally run out,” Karanovich said. “But there is no other greater reward than being able to provide such an important role.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 11 2009. Filed under Perspectives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry