To Nick Russel, firefighting was more than a job — it was a long-term commitment, a retirement plan and a chance to get out of the coal mines, where 60-hour weeks had left little time to raise a family and keep up with a farm. Eight years in the mines had been more than enough and when the opportunity arose to move to Athens from nearby Corning, it was almost too good to pass up.
On Feb. 6, Russel was sworn in by Athens Mayor Steve Patterson and became the newest addition to the now-fully staffed 22-member force as a probationary firefighter for the Athens Fire Department. Last year, the department also welcomed Matt Shinn, who was sworn in Nov. 21. The probationary period usually lasts for about one year.
Young firefighters such as Russel and Shinn are vital to the department, Athens Fire Department Chief Rob Rymer said, explaining that a growing number of the department’s employees are entering into their 40s and 50s.
Although a firefighter at a larger station may take on fewer demanding tasks as they grow older, Rymer said each employee at AFD is expected to play their part in dragging the 110-pound hose, climbing into burning buildings and putting their own safety at risk for the well-being of others.
“Here, from the day you start until the day you’re done, unless you’re in that office, you’re dragging the hose at two o’clock in the morning,” Rymer said. “You’re doing everything everybody else is — we don’t care how old you are. We do so much with so little, and everybody does it.”
Today, Rymer said firefighting is “getting to be like every other profession” in that it requires a greater deal of formal education and training.
Russel, who is on his probationary period, left Monday for the Ohio Fire Academy in Columbus, where he will remain for the next eight weeks. Having not yet become a full firefighter, his role at the station has been that of a student, studying the firetrucks, memorizing the routes and accompanying his colleagues on “runs” when the alarm sounds.
“The opportunity of helping someone — it’s not something you do, per say, for enjoyment,” Russel said. “It’s just a natural kind of excitement, enjoyment and awe you get from helping somebody.”
Shinn saw the position with AFD as a chance to be closer to his hometown of Lancaster. It wasn’t long ago that home was oceans away, about 7,000 miles westward in Okinawa, Japan, where he served in the Marine Corps for four years. After returning to Ohio and working for two years as a firefighter at a different department, Shinn applied for the position at AFD, where he now counts himself among a “brotherhood.”
“We spend a lot of time training, so we go through our initial training, our advanced training — we train year round," he said. "So to be able to take all that training and put it into one incident and be able to implement all that and help someone and the thrill of the job — it’s kind of neat because you never know what you’re going to do that day."
