|
Unusual
schedule, excitement are the big draws
BY PAT KIMBROUGH
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – It’s a recent
afternoon at the High Point Fire Department’s Station 1 on N. Centennial
Street, and the work day for firefighters Michael Bradshaw and Josh Cochrane,
along with Capt. Brian Evans, is far from over.
For the next 18 hours, the men will
answer whatever calls come in, and tend to other tasks, from cleaning
the station and washing the engine to filing reports and putting in a
department-mandated hour of exercise. They’ll also find time for whatever
sleep they can.
The hours are part of what
makes the job attractive, firefighters say. They work 24-hour shifts every
other day within a sixday span. After that, they have four days off before
the cycle starts again.
“It’s a really good schedule. It’s
popular,” Evans said. “It basically leaves you anywhere from 14 to 18
days a month to do what you want – a second job, hobbies, education, which
the department is really pushing now.” Bradshaw, who started with the
department when he was 18 and still a student at Trinity High School,
is typical of why people become firefighte rs.
In addition to the influence of family
– his brother is a firefighter for High Point and his father is a volunteer
for the Guil-Rand Fire Department – Bradshaw said it’s important for him to
feel as if he’s made the city a better place to live.
He also doesn’t mind that it’s about
as far from a desk job as you can get.
“It’s a pretty good adrenaline rush, entering
a burning building,” he said.
During their shifts, firefighters are
free to go to bed any time after 7 p.m. They sleep at their stations,
but must respond to calls through the night.
“We’re usually up a couple times a
night,” Bradshaw said.
The department’s fitness regimen is
credited with helping firefighters cope with the stress that comes
with being asleep one minute and battling a blaze the next.
Traffic accidents and heart attacks
are the primary lineof- duty causes of death for firefighters. An
hour per shift spent working out – lifting weights and/or using an exercise
bike, for example – is a requirement for all High Point firefighters, and a
big reason that none have suffered a heart attack in 10 years, according to
Deputy Chief Martha Younts.
pkimbrough@hpe.com |888-3531
|
|
