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Explore poems read by the two authors in conversation with each other, then follow your own fish to unlock your own creativity, and share it with us.
Hello. I'm Sue Boudreaux, and this is what's it like jobs podcast. I am incredibly curious to know about the service and trade jobs that make a good life possible for all of us. But what's it like behind the scenes? What do often undersung people behind these jobs love about their work, and what not so much?
Sue:Would you like to get into this line of work, or would you like to be a better client to make everyone's lives easier, or a better member of the public? Listen in to curious conversations and a bit of background research about jobs that can't be off shored. I've always been incredibly curious about what it's like to be a firefighter. To be honest, I just love the red trucks and I love the sirens. I also live in a very high fire severity zone in the East Bay in Northern California.
Sue:And while the last couple of years have been wetter than usual, we are looking at a dry winter and a hotter than normal conditions this coming summer, along with increased wind velocities due to climate change. Add to that the long urban wildland boundaries as housing developments push into the beautiful wildlands, and the hilly terrain, which affords great views, often with narrow and twisty streets to access those houses, and you have a lethal combination with regard to fire risk. Over the last few years, there have been epic fires. The most deadly was the Paradise fire, or the Camp Fire, in 2018, causing eighty five deaths and the loss of almost 19,000 structures. The most recent large fire was the January 1920 January 2025 Palisades fire in Santa Monica, which caused twelve deaths and the loss of almost seven thousand structures.
Sue:It was the third most destructive in California history. We in fact now have a fifth season in California, from the summer into the late fall, depending on their famous fire triangle. Fire triangle is a mixture of fuel plus oxygen and ignition, causing fire, And in the case of wildlands, that's dry vegetation, wind and a source of ignition. Lightning does cause some fires, and controlled low intensity burns are part of a Native American culture and of our wildland ecosystems in California, which are in fact fire adapted. Policies of vigorous fire suppression until the 1960s and the building of homes into wildland areas has increased the risk of high intensity wildfires.
Sue:About 85% of wildfires are caused by human activity, power line sparking, which is what caused the campfire, careless campfires, debris burning, barbecues and even the sparking of a tow hitch chain dragging on asphalt through a dry forest or grassland. So living with fire is vital to the millions of people living in similar settings around The Western United States and abroad. Fire preparedness is key in an almost inevitable emergency, and firefighters are there to help save life and property. So what's it like to be a child's hero? Our heroes, the people riding the big red engines, today we will meet a firefighter and get a boots on the ground view of the profession.
Sue:I'm here with Hunter Dolliver. Hunter, could you tell us your job title?
Hunter:Yeah. So I'm a firefighter paramedic with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.
Sue:And we're at his station this morning when he and you've just gotten off shift. Right?
Hunter:Mhmm. That's correct.
Sue:So how was your shift today?
Hunter:It was good. We we normally do forty eight hour shifts. I did two days on the front end on some trades. So I did a ninety six hour shift.
Sue:When you say on some trades?
Hunter:So you can trade your shift off. So if you have some kind of conflict with your normal shift, another firefighter can work your shift, and then you work their shift without using any vacation or if you're if you're sick, you use your sick accruals.
Sue:Okay. So when you work a ninety six hour shift, does that mean you're up ninety six hours?
Hunter:So it depends on depends on the calls that come in. So, you know, if you go to a massive incident that's lengthy, you you potentially could be up for four days in a row. But we do have the ability to sleep at night, and then it really just depends on how many calls you get during the night, the amount of sleep that you're gonna get on any one of your shifts.
Sue:Have you learned to sleep even though you know you might be woken up at any moment?
Hunter:Yeah. No. I I so I was in the military before I joined the fire department, so I can I can fall asleep pretty much whenever, but kinda depends on the individual?
Sue:So it sounds like it's being able to sleep easily is is like one of the the helpful things to be
Hunter:able find. Definitely. Definitely a definitely a good skill to have, especially if you're working a a longer shift.
Sue:So tell me a little about yourself. Do do you work to live or live to work, would you say?
Hunter:Probably somewhere in the middle. I have a a wife and a nine month old son at home, so definitely enjoy spending time at home with them, but we also like to
Sue:very comfortable.
Hunter:We like to do things.
Sue:What's what's a particular satisfaction for your job as a firefighter, would you say?
Hunter:Serving the communities, obviously, I I really enjoy that aspect. You know, I think everyone, for the most part, gets into this job because they enjoy helping members of the community. I think service is a important core value for a lot of the people that work here. And then just the nature of the job, you know, we talked about the shifts earlier, getting to work with people for two to four days at a time. You really get to there's a lot of camaraderie in the firehouse.
Hunter:So you get I've had other jobs. I mentioned earlier it was the military. I sold medical supplies for a year while I was applying for different fire jobs. You can definitely tell. The military obviously has a high level of camaraderie because, again, you're with those people for long periods of time.
Hunter:You really get to know them. Not so much in that intermediate job. You know, you just don't get to necessarily form a bond with people when you're working more of a nine to five and then coming to the fire service. You definitely get to form a bond with the people you work with, which is which is great. Yeah.
Hunter:I realized I was definitely missing it from my past life and getting to come here. You I I found that again. So that was that was really nice and something I really enjoy about this place specifically and the fire service in general.
Sue:It sounds kind of amazing. The idea of both teamwork, the sense of being incredibly helpful to your community in times where you're often there with people's worst day they've ever had. Absolutely. To do something, that sense of meaning sounds amazing.
Hunter:Totally.
Sue:Could you would you do you have a crazy day that stands out for you or an incident or something like that?
Hunter:Not not one in particular. There's there's been days where, you know, if you're at busier stations, this station we're at Station 10 in Concord right now, which is near De La Salle. Not particularly busy. It's probably more of a middle of the road station as far as call volume. But any station can have their busy days for sure, but What vehicle are you?
Hunter:There's been many days when I'm working overtime or on a trade at one of our busier stations, and, you know, they can run upwards of 20 to 30 calls a day. And it's just almost comical that you're just going from one call to the next, sometimes not even making it back to the station.
Sue:So the kinds of calls you get could you tell us something about the range of calls that you get?
Hunter:Absolutely. So we're a we're a all hazard special district. So we go on medical calls. We respond to hazardous materials incidents. If a citizen's fallen and not able to pick themselves back up, we do public assists.
Hunter:We respond if your smoke alarm or your carbon monoxide alarm is going off. We obviously go to continue any structure fires. To I'm sorry.
Sue:You go to structure fires?
Hunter:We go to structure fires. We go to wildland fires. So we have boats here where if a citizen's in distress on any one of our waterways in the county, we'll respond to those on on our rescue boats. If a boat's on fire, we have fire boats. So we really we really do everything here.
Sue:So you're in the Suisun Bay area?
Hunter:Yeah. So over there, the the Delta Mhmm. Going over the waterway Oh, sorry. South Suisun and Venetia, you know, kind of that waterway between Martinez and Venetia.
Sue:So it sounds like you're not gonna get bored.
Hunter:No. Definitely not. And you can totally find whatever it's we don't have a fireboat here, for example. So you'd wanna go to a station that has that particular piece of apparatus, whether it's a rescue, a truck, an engine. So you can definitely find what you're into here, and there's just plenty of opportunity.
Hunter:Like I said earlier, we have busy stations. We have slow stations. Mhmm. You know, if you're if you got three kids at home that are all under four years old, you can totally go find a slow spot if you need to be a little slower at work or if you're really itching to run a bunch of calls, can get to our busier stations. And then like I said, there's different pieces of apparatus and different specialties all over the district.
Hunter:So you can totally find what you're into and and really really dive into that.
Sue:That sounds amazing. Do you have a whole variety of different people who are firefighters now?
Hunter:Yes. Yes.
Sue:So can can women do it Absolutely. On an equal basis to men now?
Hunter:So there's a yeah. There's there's no there's no disqualifiers based on any of that, obviously. Mhmm. Really just matters whether you meet the standards of the academy. So everyone that comes here, if you're an entry level, so you don't have we have a lateral we have lateral academies as well where those are other paid full time firefighters coming from other departments to come work here at Confire.
Hunter:Those academies are typically eight weeks long. Mhmm. And the entry level academies are twenty weeks. So, typically, those people have they're not coming from another fire department. Sometimes they are just because they want the opportunity to come here and they don't wanna wait for a lateral academy.
Hunter:So it's a twenty week academy. So as long as you meet the standards that are laid out in the academy
Sue:What are the what are the basic sort of educational standards that you need?
Hunter:Or So technically, you need a EMT license, a driver's license, and a high school diploma.
Sue:Okay. So an EMT license is a big deal.
Hunter:Correct. It's it's required.
Sue:And so how does that so you you're an EMT.
Hunter:Is that I'm a paramedic. But I'm an EMT as well. Yes.
Sue:Is an EMT lower than a paramedic?
Hunter:Correct. So there's just different scopes of practice. So an EMT is, I guess, you'd say the initial one.
Sue:Mhmm.
Hunter:I think just about everyone get well, everyone needs their EMT license to become a paramedic. So that's at the entry level. Lower scope of practice, so less interventions you can do Mhmm. With patients. And then paramedic is a higher scope of practice, so more advanced knowledge for it's called advanced life saving.
Hunter:And generally, EMTs are more basic life saving. So your paramedics can start IVs, they can intubate, they're trained on cardiology so they understand how to interpret an EKG and how to give medications or how to properly cardiovert or defibrillate a patient if if they need to. There's a higher there's a higher scope of practice, a little more education.
Sue:Mhmm.
Hunter:We have one paramedic on every piece of apparatus. It's a requirement for Mhmm. For all of our units to have ALS capabilities.
Sue:And does that mean that you get paid a bit more?
Hunter:Yes. There is a there is an incentive for being a paramedic. You're paid slightly more than the EMTs would be for your position.
Sue:So is the EMT license, is that something that trips a lot of people up who who want to be fire fighters? What is what are some of the barriers do you think?
Hunter:It can be. A lot of it, honestly, is timing with, like, who is hiring and what they're looking for.
Sue:Mhmm.
Hunter:Obviously, a paramedic being a more challenging and a greater time commitment to become a paramedic. A lot of people don't get their paramedic license. So there's a lot of EMTs and there's very few medics. And all these departments need paramedics if they're operating on a similar model where they're gonna have one paramedic on every apparatus. So they're really looking to hire medics.
Hunter:So for the timing piece, you know, some departments will only be hiring for paramedics. They won't be hiring EMTs because they're so low on paramedics. They only want to hire
Sue:So that's a tip for people wanting to become firefighters is do your best to get up to get do EMT Absolutely.
Hunter:A dental paramedic. It will
Sue:be practice in ambulances, I imagine.
Hunter:It can be helpful for sure. It makes you more work experience and then it looks better on the resume. But Right. You have that paramedic license, it's gonna open a ton of doors for you to at least get an interview with Mhmm. Any departments that you're that you're looking at.
Hunter:There's so many EMTs
Sue:Right.
Hunter:Because it's just the minimum. You're gonna be you're gonna struggle to stand out. Vice, if you have the paramedic license, you are much more attractive to a department that's
Sue:Interesting. Retiring. And so there are, I'm sure, lots of other skills. I mean, I seem to remember because my when my son was thinking about what to do, at that time, it was incredibly difficult to get into the fire service. It was a very attractive Mhmm.
Sue:Job. Is that still true? Is there still a huge competition?
Hunter:It it is still competitive for sure. I applied in all of four or five years ago now is when I started my application process. Nowadays, you know, at recent academies, we've had three to 400 people apply online. So, like, a much easier application process but even less interest for sometimes upwards of thirty, thirty five slots in an academy.
Sue:So bit less. It's a
Hunter:little odds are like one in 10 in that at that point.
Sue:Still really competitive.
Hunter:So it's still competitive for sure, but I would say there's there's become less interest in doing a blue collar jobs as well as Oh, interesting. In the fire service. I mean, just the statistics bear that out.
Sue:Could you they I know that around where I live, and I live in El Sobrante, wildfire is a huge concern. Do you how does wildfire and urban fire suppression, how does that work? Do you do it sounds like you do wildfire.
Hunter:We call it a wild land response.
Sue:Right.
Hunter:Casually, they call them grass fires. Yes. We do respond to those as well. We will bring different pieces of apparatus for that. Our engines are not equipped to drive off road.
Hunter:And obviously, with a wildland fire unlike a structure fire, there's you know, the structure fire, you're gonna generally have hydrants close to the scene. So you are gonna be able to get as much water hopefully as you need if the hydrants functioning properly. Structure fires require much greater gallons of water just because of the fuels that are burning.
Sue:Oh, interesting.
Hunter:You know, a grass fire is gonna require less just because of the the composition of the fuels. So And with that, we respond with our, you know, tech call them tech three rigs. They can drive off roads. They can get people closer to where the fire is occurring. Because oftentimes also you you may need to travel greater distances on a wildland fire because it typically is a greater the acreage of a wildland fire is obviously greater than a house that's burning that's contained to one location.
Hunter:So typically, you know, a structure fire, you're not gonna need 400 feet of hose. It happens for sure based on, you know, geography and where the structure set and our access. But on a wildland fire, it's not untypical to need to do two to 300 foot hose lay just to get to where the fire fire is occurring or at least even hit it and then how massive the incident is. You might need additional hose. So we have different point being, we have different pieces of apparatus that respond to wildland versus structure fires.
Sue:And do you go to other fires like the Paradise fire, for example, and and other big ones?
Hunter:Can. Yes. So we run strike teams. So if there's a need for it, the agency will request additional resources if it's Mhmm. And just like here, you know, the entire county was burning and we thought that with the units that we had working in the district to include on anyone we could recall that we couldn't handle it and still even if a massive grass fire is happening, we still have a responsibility to service the citizens of the county.
Hunter:We would levy that request for additional resources. So on the the Paradise fire, we did send units down there. We sent I believe we sent two rigs. But we we send resources if if there's a need, we'll send strike teams out. As long as we're capable of fill filling the need.
Hunter:Right. We will totally send resources to all these campaign fires throughout the state.
Sue:What would you like the public to know about making your job easier?
Hunter:Overall, I mean, for at least the calls that I go on, generally, the the public does a good job of and I just think of, like, not putting themselves in harm's way. Mhmm. You know, a lot of citizens want to be helpful on scene, which is great. And generally, they do stay in a safe area and allow us to work. But I would just say for the public, just ensure you know, obviously, we might ask for a history on a patient or, you know, what happened on a vehicle accident or a scene.
Hunter:But don't feel like you need to if we need we're probably not gonna ask you for assistance because we have the resources capable of handling the the majority of what we go on. If we don't, we're requesting more. Just try and not make the incident worse by, you know, putting yourself in a harmful situation. If dispatch tells you to get out of your house because it's on fire, absolutely. Get out of your house and stay out.
Hunter:So just whether it's dispatch or any units on scene telling you what to do, we're probably telling you that it's for your safety. So What
Sue:are what would you say are the most important things people can do to protect themselves and their property, either in urban fire situations, but also in wildfire situations?
Hunter:Sure. With the on the structure side, a lot of what we see is we've actually had a recent string of fires that have been started by unattended candles. So yeah. I mean, even a we've seen where one candle is totally result is resulted in a total loss of the structure, so pretty much burned down to the studs. So especially if you have pets at home and you're leaving a candle lit and walking away, whether it's a cat or a dog that gets up on the counter, can knock the candle over.
Hunter:Not attending food is a is a big one as well. You know, people leave certain items in an oven, on a stove, whatever whatever you're cooking with. Just make sure you check that it's off and you're not leaving the house with with food in the oven or food on the stove just because you never know what could happen if something shorts or your food gets too hot and combusts and catches fire. That can totally extend to the rest of the house.
Sue:Think that's like 50% or something like that of all house fires caused by cooking incidents in the kitchen.
Hunter:It's definitely a lot. I don't have I don't have the percentages, but I wouldn't be surprised. And then as far as the far as the wildland fires, just look at, you know, where you're storing combustible materials. You know, putting a gas can next to a barbecue is probably not the best idea, but it it happens. So make sure you're storing combustibles appropriately.
Hunter:And then if you do live in an area that's more in what we'd call, like, the WUI, the wildland urban interface. So more of a so really in an area with a lot more, you know, vegetation if you're living out in Clayton and Morgan territory or anywhere that's a little more secluded and kinda more out in the country. I would just look at defensible space you're creating around the house. So do you have trees hanging over your house? Do you have a bunch of, you know, they call them light flashy fuels or grass coming right against your structure?
Hunter:Because if those things do catch fire, we can do a lot. If there's defensible space, we can protect structures. But if you have these very combustible fuel sources up against your house, there's just an incredible risk that that grass fire is gonna turn into a structure fire now once it extends into your house.
Sue:So there's now in zone zero legislation, I think that came through in January requiring a five foot defensible space around structures in high very high risk zones.
Hunter:Sure. And I know some counties and cities in, you know, Tahoe and Mhmm. Some of the more remote areas are I've even seen a post in more of, like, 25 feet of defensible space.
Sue:Right.
Hunter:And, again, definitely keeping combustible liquids away from the house
Sue:for We my parents in law had a house in paradise that burned to the ground. I mean, was such an intense fire. It actually literally melted their appliances into the ground. Mhmm. And the only thing standing was an American flag on a pole.
Sue:Wow. And my friend who's an a fire ecologist said, oh, that's defensible space for you.
Hunter:Yeah. Right.
Sue:But it also means that you would be more likely to save a house where you can actually walk around it.
Hunter:Right.
Sue:Whereas if it's like very overgrown, it's gonna be like Totally. Totally. So that's a that's a really big incentive for me personally because I have bay trees that hang over the house, and I'm looking at spending a fair amount of money getting those
Hunter:Right.
Sue:Cut back.
Hunter:Yeah. For sure. I guess the one more thing I'd say for what this is, I guess, a bit newer, but lithium ion batteries are
Sue:Yes.
Hunter:Starting to become the new hotness. So, you know, we've seen cars that are charging in a garage like a Tesla or any EV really. The battery goes into thermal runaway because of the issue with the where it's connected and how it's receiving a charge. Those fire those cars and those vehicles and those those battery fires are very challenging to put out because water is not going to water is generally not gonna put those those battery fires out.
Sue:Oh, interesting.
Hunter:We've also seen it with even something as simple as a plug in lithium ion battery for tools around the house. So like a leaf blower on a a battery for a leaf blower left in the garage charging somehow or another. A failure of the system caused the battery to go into thermal runaway and massive damage to the house. So don't don't leave your batteries plugged in overnight or when you're not in the house. It would prevent the lithium ion stuff.
Sue:Okay.
Hunter:That's I do that in my house. I don't I don't leave any I don't have an EV, but, you know, I have electric Okay. Tools. I don't I don't leave them plugged in if I'm not home or I don't leave them plugged in overnight when I'm sleeping and not be able to catch anything that's happened to them until it's probably too late.
Sue:That is an interesting point, and I will look up some more things about safety to how to make sure that that doesn't happen. And what kind I imagine you need different kind of fire extinguisher for that sort of incident.
Hunter:I mean, oftentimes, they'll just some of these Teslas that have caught fire or any EV, sometimes they just bury them in the ground because they know the risk of them reigniting is super high. Sometimes they they're sitting in these junkyards and they just catch fire again. So sometimes they'll just bury them in in the ground. And it's, you know, the lithium ion, you know, the byproducts of combustion with those is we we don't really know what it what it does, but there's been people in different agencies across the state that have been exposed where they weren't wearing respiratory protection. And some of them immediately have been well, they had medical issues as a result of inhaling some of that smoke from these batteries and some of them even got medically retired just because
Sue:Wow.
Hunter:It's such considerable respiratory issues immediately after that. So You don't necessarily get with, you know, some of the smoke we naturally get on wildland fires or structured fires. So it's it's super toxic and I don't think we've really figured out the whole how to make these EVs, these lithium ion things totally safe. So I
Sue:think That's that's a big deal going forward because we're getting increasing numbers of electric vehicles Totally. Electric scooters and bicycles and on and on. And I just didn't really think of the batteries as being a real hazard like that.
Hunter:Mhmm. And a lot of cities like, you know, big cities that people use e bikes. The FDNY runs a lot of lithium ion fires in apartments because they're charging their scooters or e bikes in their apartment, and then those end up catching fire. So they've seen a, you know, a significant rise in the number of responses they've had in these big city departments.
Sue:Mhmm.
Hunter:And I think that's gonna be the we're gonna see a greater number here in the county as well, like you said, Sue, as we transition from gas powered vehicles and equipment to this new, you know, cleaner electric powered vehicles or or equipment.
Sue:Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna look up some research on that and put that in the show notes at the end. Do you have advice about when I'm watching stuff about disasters all over the place, there's this stereotype of an ornery elderly person going, I'm not gonna leave my house. I'm staying here and the floodwaters be damned or the fire be damned. It's not gonna hit my house. What advice do you have to people about, you know, in what conditions should people prepare to evacuate?
Sue:Do you have advice about evacuation?
Hunter:Well, definitely, if you get an evacuation warning, would I would heed to that warning. That's, you know, they're they're making that recommendation to the public or mandating it, not because they want to just exert as much power as they can on the on the citizens. It's it's definitely for for your safety. So I would absolutely heed those warnings, and then I would make a plan ahead of time, especially in some of these areas that are, you know, maybe more prone to disasters, whether it's earthquake, fires, or floods. I would definitely have a plan ahead of time of any kind of evacuation route you would take, maybe a second one as well in case your first one's not not tenable.
Hunter:Because when you're when the day does come and, you know, we will have a major earthquake here again at some point. Might be today. It might be in a hundred years.
Sue:But And earthquake and fire are very closely connected as well.
Hunter:For sure. Yeah. I mean, definitely could be disastrous. So having a plan only because when you're when you're in it, none of us are gonna think as coherently, you know, when we're stressed out and we're potentially fearing for our lives as we will when, you know, we're having a cup of coffee, relaxed, and can think logically. So make that plan ahead of time so you're gonna set yourself up for success if the disaster does ever come.
Hunter:And I'm not telling anyone to, you know, turn into a doomsday prepper and and overdo it, but at least having a basic plan of how you can get yourself to safety out of a flood zone away from a, you know, a wooey area or a wild land area. But I think it'll definitely set yourself up for success when when that day eventually does come.
Sue:Because we have many many often quite high priced housing. I'm thinking of Arunda
Hunter:For sure.
Sue:Particularly a lot of places which are up little tiny lanes with a Mhmm. Gorgeous view, and with brush right beneath their decks on wooden pilings. Absolutely. They have one little road like El Toynal
Hunter:Mhmm.
Sue:And that's it for getting out. So I would I would think that you'd want to evacuate as soon as there's warning, not that.
Hunter:Especially if you're in those places for sure. Right. Right. You know, I I live in a very flat I live in Sacramento in Rockland. So I live in a very flat area where I have many means of, you know, if there's a flood or an earthquake or something, I have I have plenty of ways to get out of my neighborhood to a different area.
Hunter:But to your point, if you're if you have one way in or one way out, if you if you wait too long, I mean, hopefully, that means of egress wouldn't be cut off. But if you're living in that situation, definitely heating heating the warnings before it becomes mandatory because then we know the insulin incident has escalated at that point and now people people and structures are generally genuinely threatened at that point. And
Sue:if people really want to get a visceral sense of that, watch The Lost Bus.
Hunter:Okay.
Sue:The Lost Bus is really all about the evacuation of paradise. Oh. And there was really one major road that Right. Went out of paradise, and that bus ended up going all these little back roads. And my mother-in-law and her husband, who was 85, managed to get on a little back fire road Oh, wow.
Sue:To Chico. It took them twelve hours to That's get crazy. So so getting out as soon as you feel like, you know, those conditions warrant it Right. Is better than waiting to the last minute.
Hunter:Definitely.
Sue:You know, have a go I've got a go bag by my door Yeah. Which I kinda hate having to do. And yet, you know, the fact that my parents in law took their insurance documents made a really big difference to them and their pass passport. So you know, kind of a few things like that.
Hunter:Right.
Sue:I mean, still had to buy a toothbrush at Target,
Hunter:but Sure. That's easily replaceable though on the passport.
Sue:And their lives. Right. So I was wondering what if you had a magic wand wish to make your job better, what would you what would you wish for?
Hunter:I would probably wish the the job didn't have a if the job didn't affect the home life, that would be that would be awesome. So obviously, we've already talked about lack of sleep potentially, you know, depending on where you're working or how tough your shift was. And that does it does affect people at home. If you come off two super poor nights of sleep at work, you're it's gonna be challenging to be present at home. Oftentimes, people get off work and spend the first part of their days off with, you know, a nap or sleeping at home.
Hunter:And even then, sometimes it takes people a few days to really kinda return to their baseline from like a fatigue standpoint and an energy level. And then there's obviously the exposure risk of this job. We've we've talked about a ton of hazards today whether it's hazardous materials, smoke, fire. Obviously, with medical calls, could be exposed to people with communicable diseases that you might not know about, they might not know about. Mhmm.
Hunter:So, you know, obviously, that'd be it'd be awesome if we were invincible in that sense that, you know, these exposures didn't have long term ramifications or we weren't susceptible to fatigue and cortisol and could do our shift and go home and and just kinda snap to a, you know, rested regular person. But the job does take a lot out of you. And, you know, firefighters are, I think, two times more likely to develop cancer later in life or at any point in life. And, you know, the incidence of heart attacks, strokes, you know, the things that generally kill people in older age, we're much more susceptible to having. A lot of it is from lack of sleep and exposures over a career.
Hunter:So if if we could be not susceptible to
Sue:Mhmm.
Hunter:Any of those any of those issues, that would be that would be that'd be awesome. But it's kinda in the back of your head of, you know, whenever you go to these calls, kinda your exposure level and what's what you're what's getting in your lungs or getting on your skin. But you have a job to do and, you know, you do it gladly. But unfortunately, it comes at a cost for a lot of people.
Sue:Do you are you afraid of them?
Hunter:I personally am not. I mean, the exposure risk for a lot of people is definitely concerning. It obviously doesn't outweigh our want to serve the citizens and do the job. I realized we wouldn't be here still.
Sue:Right.
Hunter:But as as far as fear goes, I think I think a lot of us this is a great department
Sue:Mhmm.
Hunter:Trained well. We have a high standard around here. So I think I think people fall back on their their level of training, and it gives them confidence on scene. And I think rather than be afraid, I think people understand they have a responsibility to act and to do something. And I think the confidence from our training, whether it's in the academy or just once we reach the companies, we do a lot of sustainment training to one, sustain the skills we gain in the academy and then to build our skill level up.
Hunter:I think people have a lot of confidence from that and I think that keeps people from being fearful as a result.
Sue:That makes a lot of sense. And having done the CERT training, I do feel a bit less fearful of the next big disaster because I have at least some sense of what to do. And one of my real horrors is coming across some hideous thing that's happened and not knowing what to do and not knowing how to help. Sure. And so I think that people who are feeling afraid, get some training, get a little bit more knowledge.
Sue:And in your case, you not only have your training, but you have trusted colleagues behind you, and that seems like something that allows for bravery.
Hunter:Totally. And, you know, to your point, taking any kind of training even for even for citizens like, you know, CPR just to have some kind of knowledge if
Sue:Right.
Hunter:You do come across someone that, you know, no longer has a pulse, isn't breathing, you're gonna at least have a baseline of what you can do to at least give that person the best chance of survival until a week can arrive and provide advanced life saving services. You know, doing little things like that that are day long courses can totally totally set you up for success to be helpful early till first responders can arrive
Sue:Right.
Hunter:And to be less fearful and feel more confident when and confident when those situations arise. Hopefully they don't but Right. Odds are you probably will come across someone at some point in your life who is in cardiac arrest and having just like a baseline level of training can totally help you be To to panic less. Helpful. Yeah.
Hunter:Right.
Sue:Because panic is a really dangerous thing. Absolutely. Yeah. It's unhelpful to anyone Right.
Hunter:Involved in the incident. So
Sue:Well, thank you so much for your time. It's been such a pleasure to
Hunter:You talk to as well. Thanks for having me.
Sue:We have extensive show notes for this episode because wildfire and urban fire is such a big risk here in Northern California. Our show notes include, flashy vegetation and fuels. In other words, what super combustible landscaping things you should avoid. There's links about CERT training, which is community emergency response. There's information about lithium battery hazards and what to do about that.
Sue:Evacuation advice. There's pictures from the firehouse and the rigs, of course. How to apply for EMT, paramedic and firefighting academies, homeowners, what can you do to harden your home, and how to form a Firewise Neighborhood group and more. So please share, subscribe, and review this podcast. Podcasts and all kinds of different jobs will be dropping every Wednesday.
Sue:A big thank you to Jeffrey Byron, the composer and performer of the music called the flow state used in this podcast. You can see more of his work at jeffreyjbyron.com and his YouTube channel.