Just Curious: What do firefighters do when they aren’t out fighting flames?

This report has been contributed by Avery Braxton, a student from Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism.

Have you ever wondered what in the world firefighters do when they are not fighting fires?

Well, we were “Just Curious” and visited Houston County Fire Station No.6 to find out.

Fire station 6 has at least two firefighters on call at all times, 24 hours a day.

Other stations in Houston County have at least four firefighters on call with shorter shifts, including volunteers from 1 a.m.to 7 a.m. and on weekends.  Those stationed have a number of responsibilities when they clock in.

“We get in, we get our bunk rooms made. We get our gear put in the trucks, then we go to all our trucks run all of the equipment. We have a system in our systems called target solutions that we put all the info into every morning,” said Cpl. James Lindsey, who works at the station.

Lindsey says the morning routine could take up to an hour and a half to complete.

The on-call crew has to get the check done quickly and efficiently, because they could be called to an emergency at any moment.

Lindsey says the firefighters are required to be dressed and in a truck within two minutes of being notified.

Lindsey added that the station has already responded to 370 emergency calls in five weeks themselves and that bigger stations can vastly outpace that number.

Crews will sleep at the station during overnight shifts and have their own bunk room with clothes and essentials.

“It has its pros and its cons. We’re here one-third of our life,” Lindsey said. “That’s hard on families, but our families understand that we love our jobs so they understand us.”

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