Introduction

 Hello all

   My name is John Williamson, I am the third John Williamson in my family, I come from a long line of firefighters, and I hope to become a firefighter in the near future. This blog will be focusing on the history of firefighting and how it has evolved into what it is today, the ins and outs of wildland firefighting and structure firefighting as well as how they differentiate and how they work together, the paramedic side of firefighting, and fire administration. 

A firefighter's job is to serve and protect the community, whether that be saving someone from a burning building, a car crash, having a heart attack, or the small things like helping people change batteries in their smoke detectors, the cliche of saving a cat from a tree and anything else the community needs. 

How I would describe a firefighter would be someone who runs in when everyone else is running out, someone who is courageous, brave, confident, has tenacity, but someone who is also caring, compassionate, and humble. Firemen are all of those and more, simply because well, it’s their job to be those things and it’s who they are. 

Being a firefighter can be extremely hard both mentally and physically. 

 

To be a firefighter you have to be in excellent physical condition. Firefighters are often tested if they are physically fit enough to do the job and are required to do some sort of personal training everyday. 

Firefighting can also be extremely difficult for people on the mental side as well. All first responders and veterans are at a much higher risk to mental health issues than the rest of the population. A firefighter is exposed to many tragedies while doing their job everyday, often seeing people on the worst day of their lives. The things firefighters and first responders go through can take a heavy presence on their mental health. This job is very difficult, stressful and  honestly you kind of have to have a few screws loose to do it.