it is an unwritten rule that if a call comes in, The
other five will get on a truck and go.
Above: Firefighter Thomas Hall, Firefighter Matt Lewis and Lieutenant Mike Chapman
prepare to pressure test fire hoses during training in August. Right: Marc Scott, named
Firefighter of the Year for 2010, trains with other members of the Wrightsville Beach Fire
“He sets the tone and culture … (and)
goes a long way to keeping everything on
the straight and narrow.”
Like Smith, Chapman notes that while
pay scales create faintly drawn lines between
volunteers and career firefighters, the brotherhood
crosses those lines with ease.
“Everybody may hang out in their own
clique at the station, but when an emergency
of any type occurs, we’re all expected
to perform the same way. Everybody’s on
the same page,” Chapman says.
For seven interns, all local college
students, the Wrightsville Beach Fire
Department is more than just a station
house, it’s home. In exchange for room
and board, two interns per night serve on a
rotating schedule, becoming part of a 24/7
force that includes three paid staff, who are
always on duty at the station. By virtue of
actually living in the station, the brotherhood
dynamic among interns is particularly
strong. They share training duties and
Department in August.
responsibilities with paid staff and the oncall
volunteers, and also share living space,
cook and share meals together, and engage in
a variety of non-fire-related, college student
activities — like attending class, dating and
attendant conversation about those activities.
“They apply and it’s like applying
for a job,” says Captain Dan Reid, the
department’s former intern and volunteer
coordinator. “We check references, do
background checks and conduct interviews.
One thing they all pretty much have in
common is that most of them are interested
in becoming firefighters. Some are already
junior firefighters when they come to us.”
“They’re working here for their room and
board, testing the waters,” he adds. “Two
of them will come on duty at 5 o’clock and
they’ll have different duties as far as chores go.
They’ll take care of that, have dinner and participate
in an hour of intern training a night.”
While only two are required to be on
duty each night, it is an unwritten rule that
42
WBM september 2011
if a call comes in for either training or an
actual emergency, it’s all intern hands on
deck. “The other five,” Reid says, “will get
on a truck and go.”
The interns, he says, weave their way
into the brotherhood.
So could you.
Every volunteer force, whether full or
supplemented by paid staff, deals with
recruitment issues, the necessity of maintaining
a force size capable of handling
large scale emergencies.
“That’s generally true,” says Chief Smith,
“although with us, it’s more of a retention
issue, because of the transitional nature
of our community. The average time for
interns and volunteers is between two and
three years. The students, of course, graduate
and move on to other things, and as of
right now, there’s not a single volunteer
member of the department, who could
(absolutely) be considered a permanent resident
of Wrightsville Beach.”
For information regarding volunteer opportunities with the Wrightsville Beach Fire
Department, call its non-emergency line at 910-256-7920.
Allison Potter