There are several reasons a person might become a firefighter. For some it’s feeling called to a greater good. Others join because it’s in their blood and they want to follow the family line.
For Ashland City Fire Capt. Tony Clark, it was a desire to start over in life. Clark had served in the Army. He was working a 9-to-5 job in Nashville, and he was making decent money, but he felt the work lacked any meaning. He started looking for something that would give him a sense of fulfillment, and he came across the Ashland City Fire Department.
He applied for a volunteer position, and he soon found the fulfillment he’d been looking for. He worked his way up, became a career firefighter, and he’s now ACFD’s training captain.
Types of firefighters
There are a few different types of firefighters at ACFD.
Volunteer firefighter: The volunteers work at their “normal” jobs, then come to the station to runs calls and enjoy the comradery in their free time. They are at the station anywhere from four-24 hours at a time.
Part-time firefighter: The part-timers have come through in-house training or are already certified firefighters. They help fill shifts to cover the outlying stations or when a full-timer has taken a day off. They pick and commit to their shifts days or sometimes months in advance and get compensated for the time they work. Their shifts range from 12-24 hours.
Career firefighter: These are the ones that get up and come to work every third day. They start the day at 7 a.m. They check off the equipment, engines, ladders and support trucks. Then they’re are at the mercy of “the tones.” While they are waiting for the tones to go off, it isn’t uncommon to have side projects going. Those could include installing new smoke alarms, inspecting new construction, or even planning how to handle dangerous incidents. The career firefighters are at the station 24 hours at a time.
Answering the call
Calls run the gamut, since ACFD is an “all-hazards department:” They respond to medical and fire emergencies, and also technical rescues such as water, rope and confined space rescues.
Those technical rescues stand out to firefighter and EMT Stephen W. Jenkins. He remembers one involving a child who had fallen into a large drainpipe.
“He was out playing with friends, didn’t see the pipe and fell right in,” Jenkins said. “We had to set up anchor points and get to the child to harness him in. It felt like we were there for an eternity, while in reality it was only some minutes. The child was scared and anxious, so not only did we have to get the equipment set up, we had to comfort the kid while we worked vigorously to get him out. Thankfully, the rescue was successful, and the kid escaped with only a few cuts and bruises.”
Jenkins said being a firefighter is both important and rewarding work.
“The firefighter is one of the only people in the community that is trusted almost immediately by every citizen,” he said. “People will call you to help them in their most dire times, from rescuing their child or pet, or when a loved one is injured and possibly dying. One minute you are sitting with your best friends, and the next you are going into a burning building or rappelling off a cliff to rescue someone who has fallen.
“It is an intense feeling for sure, and the best thing I have ever done in my life,” Jenkins said. “It is both nerve-wracking and exhilarating to be someone’s first call when they are having the worst day of their life.”
How to join
Ashland City Fire Department is now recruiting for their next training class.
For more information, go to the Ashland City Fire Department website or call 1-615-792-4531.