A firefighter, fireman, or firewoman, is a person who is trained and equipped to put out fires, rescue people, pets, aid and assist during natural disasters, save property and, increasingly, provide emergency medical services. The fire service is one of the emergency services.
Fire fighting is the process and profession of extinguishing fires. Firefighting and firefighters have become ubiquitous around the world, from urban areas to wildland areas, and on board ships. Not all firefighters are paid for their services. In some countries, including the United States, Canada, Finland, Australia, and New Zealand, there are often paid, or "career" ("professional" is falling out of popular usage due to the perception that non-paid volunteers would thus be termed "unprofessional"), firefighters working alongside volunteer and "call" or "retained" (firefighters who are paid for the specific time they are responding to emergencies) firefighters. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the use of retained firefighters (who are part-time, but are paid when on duty) rather than volunteers is standard.
The three main goals in firefighting are (in order) protection of life, the environment and property.
Firefighting is an inherently dangerous occupation. As such, the skills required for safe operations are regularly practiced during training evolutions throughout a firefighter's career. In the United States, the preeminent fire training and standards organization is the National Fire Protection Association (or NFPA). Often initial firefighting skills are taught during a local, regional, or state approved fire academy. Depending on the requirements of a department additional skills and certifications such as technical rescue and Paramedicine may also be taught at this time.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
I was sitting at home watching TV when my pager alerted me to a reported house fire. I quickly made my way to the fire station while wondering what was going to happen on this day. Will there really be a fire? Is everyone out of the house? These were just a few of the thousands of things going through my head.
As I get to the fire station I hurry to the fire truck. I can now feel the adrenaline running through my body. I hurry to put on my "Bunker-Gear" before we get there. Then I hear those words "working house fire." This is it, I thought to myself.
Now I am ready to go. I have my protective gear, my SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus), and my air mask.
We pull up to find a 2 story residential house with smoke coming from an upstairs bedroom window. I can see an orange glow coming from the room. My fire chief says "Get in there and put it out".
As I make my way to the door with a hand line, I can feel my heart racing. I stop at the door to put on my air mask and wait for my partner. Together we enter the house dragging the heavy hose line up the steps to the second floor. It is dark and smoky on this level. We crawl along the floor in an attempt to find the fire. As we round the bend in a hallway we see the orange glow of the fire. It is now extremely hot, and I find myself breathing hard. I tell myself to slow down my breathing or I will use up all my air. My partner tells me to get going. We get a little closer and then stop at the entrance to the bedroom.
The fire is now visible through all the black smoke. We open the nozzle and the water hits the fire. Smoke surrounds us and it suddenly gets dark as the flames go out. I turn the fire hose toward the window and use the water stream to push the smoke out the window.
When we are done I hear the bell of my Air bottle telling me I am getting low on air. I make my way outside and take of my mask. I sit down and take a deep breath. At this time I realize what has just happened, and how fast my day went from sitting around to an adrenaline pumping pace. Where else can you get a rush like this!
