The Fire Pit - Ep. 1 Firefighter Myths

Sean Kim, a volunteer firefighter and cadet at West Point, shares his experience as a firefighter. He became interested in firefighting during the COVID-19 pandemic when his mother took him to a firehouse. He dispels the myth that firefighters are all older men and explains that firefighters come from diverse backgrounds. Sean is a volunteer firefighter, which means he responds to calls when he's available, rather than having set shifts. He clarifies that not all firefighters are constantly fighting fires and that they respond to various types of emergencies, including medical calls. He also mentions that the idea of firefighters saving cats from trees is not common. Sean emphasizes that anyone can become a firefighter with the right dedication and training. He concludes by debunking the myth of dalmatians at firehouses, explaining that they used to be used to calm horses, but are no longer necessary. Engine 2 to Chief Wunnell, responding with 4 to 327 Valley Road. Received Engine 2, take Kettergammet Road to Oak Avenue and take the hydrant on the corner of Wales Street and wait for further instruction. 10-4. You heard it there, right? Yeah, that was awesome. That's typically how we radio in on a call. I guess you're all set to be a firefighter now. I guess so. Anyways, good morning everyone and welcome to the fire pit. My name is Cam Redlings, your handsome host, and in today's episode, Firefighter Myths, we are joined by the one and only Sean Kim. Sean, can you introduce yourself? Yeah, of course, Cam. Hey, everybody. My name is Sean Kim, and I'm an aspiring ventriloquist and chief connoisseur. What he actually meant to say is, Sean here is a volunteer firefighter stationed out of River Edge, New Jersey, and currently cadet at the United States Military Academy. Sean is joining us today to share about his experiences as a firefighter, especially as someone who joined in high school. I think my intro was much cooler, but yeah, I'm a firefighter. It's by far one of the coolest jobs in the world. I believe you. It definitely seems like a lot of fun, but also very dangerous. So, Sean, how did you end up becoming a firefighter? I mean, so like most people growing up, I always saw firefighters as the cool guys from TV shows who saved a bunch of people and put out fires, like badasses. But I never really imagined I would one day become one. When I first joined, I was only 16. This was back in 2020 when COVID was at its peak. And at the time, I was just a bored high schooler who really felt trapped inside his house, and I didn't really know what to do with my life. Although I do sometimes miss those days. Just playing video games 24-7? Oh, you know it. Call of Duty, NBA 2K, you name it. I was playing every single day, and I was pretty damn good at it. I won't lie, I got addicted to video games after a while during the pandemic, but I guess, in a way, I can accredit that to how I became a firefighter. What do you mean by that? Well, when you're doing absolutely nothing with your life, your mother tends to notice, and my mother most definitely did. When she eventually got fed up, she ended up dragging me to the firehouse to see if I could join. One of my mother's old friends was a firefighter there. At first, it was really weird for me entering that firefighter on the corner of Agneson Street. Don't get me wrong, it was really cool, but I didn't think I really belonged there. When I thought of a firefighter at the time, I thought of older guys, 30-40 years old, who were absolute badasses and yoked out of their minds. Seizing the veterans that fought fires, rescued cats from trees, and saved people from burning buildings every single day. I think that's how most people view firefighters as. So how would a mere 16-year-old like me be able to join? But my conception of what a firefighter was was not exactly true. So are most firefighters not like how you described? See, here's the thing. Yes, to an extent, they are. But I believe there are many misconceptions about what firefighters exactly do and who they are. When I first entered that firehouse, I was really surprised. I saw people of all ages and all from different walks of life, people who were only about a year older to me than men who were the age of 60. In the department, there were also several females. Everyone there just looked like regular people that you meet in your everyday life, regular people that were heroes who saved lives. And that's what really infatuated me, the fact that I could be a firefighter, a 16-year-old boy like me. That's actually really interesting. I think you're also right about this romanticized view about firefighters. When I think of a firefighter, my mind first drifts to people in the movies and shows, like Taylor Kinney from the show Chicago Fire. Exactly. Most of these firefighter shows are mostly false and exaggerated exponentially. From watching shows like Chicago Fire, Station 19, and 911, people think that the typical firefighter is a strong, good-looking white man who runs the burning buildings every single day. But honestly, anybody can be a firefighter. And let me clarify on that. Not everyone has what it takes to become one, but everyone has the opportunity to become one. It's a big sacrifice, and it takes a lot of dedication and hard work to become one, but you shouldn't be discouraged, thinking that you don't fit this perfect view of what a firefighter is as creating TV shows. To go off on that, how are you still a firefighter when you're at West Point right now? Isn't it supposed to be like a 9-to-5 job for you? For me, it's not, so this is another misconception. Not all firefighters are on duty for hours at a time. See, there are two main types of firefighters. One, there's career, and two, there's volunteer firefighters. Career firefighters are people who do their job as a career, just like how it's in the name. Career firefighters usually run 24-hour shifts where you're on for 24 hours and not for 72, but it's really dependent on the department and manpower available. They get paid an annual salary and usually see more action. Career firefighters and departments are usually in high-risk or highly populated places like New York City or Chicago because people are needed on duty constantly because there's a high volume of calls. Volunteer firefighters, on the other hand, are again, as said in its name, volunteers. I am a volunteer firefighter. We don't get paid and instead volunteer our time to go on calls and receive training to better serve our communities. Rather than having shifts, we have pages that are run when we have a call. Anybody who is available will respond to the firehouse and then take a rig up to where the call is, but no one is obligated to go on call. At the end of the day, volunteer firefighters still have their own separate jobs or personal lives that they must put first. However, if they are free and can make it to respond, they can. According to the National Fire Protection Agency, 65% of all firefighters, which is roughly 1 million, are volunteer firefighters. Volunteer fire departments are usually in towns where there is not a substantial volume of calls or where there isn't enough funding to support a career department. And by substantial, I mean like thousands to the extent of like the FDNY in New York City. And back to your original question, obviously I can't respond to my firehouse in New Jersey from West Point. But whenever I am home, like different breaks or during the summertime, I'm back on duty, ready to go to calls whenever I'm free. I didn't really know that firefighters could be volunteers. Do both career and volunteer firefighters receive the same training? Yes. Just like career firefighters, we undergo the same certifications in the same fire academy as they do. It's not like just because you're a career firefighter you're better than a volunteer firefighter or you get trained more. It's the same thing. It's just career firefighters do it as their career. When I went to my academy to become a firefighter, we had a mix of volunteer and career firefighters. And for six weeks, we went through all of the same course together. It was a really fun and fruitful experience. Definitely sounds like it. So how many fires do you typically get a week? Two or three? And you've got to tell me, is the firefighter saving cats from trees thing actually true in common? Great question. This is another huge misconception. I've been asked this question many times by many different people. And every time, these people always have this notion that we see fires multiple times a week or even in a day. But let me ask you this. How often do you really see a fire engulfing a building in your community? Do you just walk outside and see fires all the time? For the majority of people, almost never do they see a fire. You know, you're right. I never really thought about that. But for the normal civilian, we just attach the idea of a firefighter to fighting fires every day. You see, unless you're in a really large city that's more populated or in a more fire-prone area, big fires are usually not as common as you might think, especially nowadays where fire prevention techniques are very modernized and fire education is much more widespread. In fact, out of the number of fire department response in the U.S. in 2018, approximately only 3% of them were actual fires. Then what are the majority of those calls? We respond to a large variety of different types of calls. We do more than just fight fires. We work with hazardous materials, vehicle extrication, medical aid, storm and hurricane aid, flooding, boat rescues, and so much more. I've even been to a pipe bomb, a possible pipe bomb explosion where we had to call bomb squad. During Hurricane Ida, we were out for almost 48 hours just rescuing people on boats and doing damage control and about the cat thing, I'm sorry to say, it's not really common. We don't really save cats from trees. That's pretty crazy. Do you guys respond to medical calls too? For my department specifically, we don't necessarily respond to medical calls, but we get trained in basic life support and many of the people in my department are EMTs. However, most career departments respond to both medical and fire calls. Around 70% of all calls are medical for these types of departments. You also have to understand that there are also a lot of false alarms in many of our calls. A smoke or fire alarm may go off and we go to check to make sure there's no real danger. So not every call is high risk, although we do treat each one like it is a real thing so we can be prepared for the worst case scenario. Wow. Thank you for your service, man. I really appreciate you sharing your insight and correcting these myths that many of us believe. But to end, I have a very important question to ask. Are dalmatians at the firehouse a myth? Unfortunately, my friend, they are. I mean, they used to do it in the past, but nowadays there's no real need for them. Back in the day, when fire trucks didn't exist and horses pulled equipment and firefighters, dalmatians were used to calm the horses and used for their keen sense of smell, which helped with directions. Today, you won't really see any dalmatians around. Oh, what a shame. It's a sad way to end the podcast, but... I'm sorry, man. I wish it weren't so. No problem. Anyways, thank you all for tuning in to today's episode of The Fire Kit. Thank you for joining us today, Sean. Of course. It was my pleasure. And until next time, everyone, peace.