Photo by Ron Burkett.
Cahaba Valley Fire and Rescue
Donald “DJ” Knight joined the resident firefighter program in 2013 to pay for his initial training, and he now plans to be a career firefighter.
Christine Shore is never truly off-duty from her job as a firefighter with Cahaba Valley Fire and Rescue. She wakes up to the sound of fellow firefighters beginning their shift and falls asleep hearing emergency calls on the radio. Shore is part of the department’s resident firefighter program and has lived at CVFR’s Mt Laurel station since 2006.
Cahaba Valley began the resident program in 1997 as a way to keep stations staffed and provide an education to aspiring firefighters. Residents in the program exchange one 24-hour shift per week for an apartment in a fire station with rent and utilities paid for two years. They can choose to work extra shifts for a salary or help in paying for “rookie school” and other education programs.
“It’s definitely a good opportunity if they jump in and do what it’s designed to do,” Shore said.
Shore chose to stay a resident after her two years were up because it’s convenient for her and helps keep the station staffed, plus she gets to be a familiar face for Mt Laurel children. In addition to her job as day camps director at the YMCA Hargis Retreat in Chelsea, Shore likes to be involved in the station’s education and community events.
“It’s really neat to be part of that community because they see you and they thank you and know that what you do is important,” Shore said.
In addition to six apartments at Shore’s station in Mt Laurel, CVFR has four apartments at Station 184 on Rex Lake Road and six at Station 185 on Narrows Drive. Donald “DJ” Knight finished his two years in the resident program in June, living at the Rex Lake station and working at the Mt Laurel and Doug Baker Boulevard stations. His job has grown busier over that time – the morning of this interview, his station had six calls before 9 a.m. In the physical activity and constant variety of being a firefighter, he feels that he’s found the perfect job.
“I don’t see myself ever working a different job because I love doing this,” Knight said. “I don’t think I could ever get burned out. I want to be on the busiest truck, I want to take the busiest calls.”
Both Shore and Knight had firefighting friends who initially got them interested in the job. They also admitted to being a little nosy when they heard emergency vehicle sirens. They now run calls ranging from fires and car wrecks to medical emergencies and rescues. Knight noted that he loves the adrenaline and excitement of the major calls, but he knows that he’s arriving on the scene of someone else’s worst day.
“As much as firemen want to do their job, it’s kind of a catch-22 because if you have to do your job, then that potentially means something horrible has happened in someone’s life,” Shore said.
Just as their radios are never turned off, Shore and Knight can also get called onto the fire engine any time there aren’t enough people for a call. The constant disruption isn’t for everyone, but the resident firefighters love being a part of what’s going on at their station.
“My radio stays on. I don’t know what it’d feel like to live and not listen to the radio at this point,” Knight said.
Living at the station also means there’s always someone around to hang out, and firefighters grow close while working long shifts and hard calls. Knight said there is a prank or something fun going on almost every time he leaves his apartment, and his off days are spent working a landscaping job run by his fellow firefighters.
“It’s a family. It’s like having your brothers or whomever over, hanging out,” Shore said.
The camaraderie and constant activity of life at a fire station are among the reasons why Shore and Knight both plan to continue in the resident firefighter program. They both have the passion to literally sleep, eat and breathe firefighting.
“I love my job. I have too much fun at my job,” Knight said.
