On The Job

A senior firefighter at my department just recently left the Fire Service. He's a hell of a guy, he helped me learn a ton and I thought I'd jot a few things down about him.

I first met Matt Haines on the very first day I was paid to be a firefighter. I use emphasis on the last part because although I had stumbled through EMT and Fire School and somehow was certified, I was pretty much about the opposite of qualified. I’d never been to a fire, I’d never been active on an EMS call and I’d never worked in a fire station. I also should mention that Matt was quitting smoking that week which really didn’t seem to help things in the patience department.

Now when there’s a new guy on shift at our department, he is ultimately the responsibility of his Shift Lieutenant. But sometimes, when it comes to on-the-line training, the lion’s share of responsibility falls on the senior man. Matt had the distinct pleasure of being the senior guy on my shift when I was green as blades of grass and a second away from breaking everything I touched.

The probationary Period at our department is a year-long and mine was pretty rough. I had to do a lot of learning and growing. It felt like everything about this job came to me the hard way. For the guys training me, it had to be no picnic and the hazing that comes with being a new guy is something that in hindsight is necessary and understood if not provoked. I was so green that when I look back now, I feel lucky that I didn’t get fired or just plain get my ass- kicked. Where Matt found the patience for me, I have no idea, but that’s the nature of this job.

When I look back now though on memories of my first year, I think learning from Matt is something I remember with gratitude and that’s what sticks with me. I had a lot of great people on shift I learned a great deal from but Matt just stood out a little more sometimes. Not only with his personality, which holy crap it does, but with the quality of his character and his outlook on life. Here are a few memories I have;

Matt could stand outside and shoot the breeze about family forever. He could talk about Heather and the girls and tell everyone around him all day about how much they matter. When I was starting out, that struck a serious chord in me. He was the first guy to tell me that family is sacred and to do this job well, you need to remember what you’re coming home to at 8:00 am.

When I was struggling to improve my skills as a medic, Matt told me to go to Youngstown and run primary EMS. It’s what he did when he was a new medic and he swore that it would make me better if I just went there for a year. I was terrified of that area and didn’t want to work at a private company but I took his advise and to this day, I owe a great deal of my confidence as a medic to the skills I developed running primary EMS in the Mahoning Valley.

I remember at Puritan Systems which was my first large-scale industrial fire, Matt was sizing up the situation on a broad scale the entire time and was well informed of the hazards on scene. He knew the chemicals involved what kind of risk they posed to responders and the environment and could take in the whole situation that night and he understood it. He was thinking about safety and the bigger picture. That impressed me. I was just stoked to be at any kind of fire and all I knew was that Puritan was a damned big one.

I also remember one of my first calls to a house in Beechcrest Allotment that was a CO investigation. We were on scene with the Fire Chief and our Shift Lieutenant. I was trying to not look lost in my canary yellow gear, nervous and unsure but Matt was calm and he was a perfect representation of what our department should represent to our community. There was a toddler there and he was just a little guy but it was obvious he liked firefighters and fire trucks. Matt was the first to swoop the kid up in his arms and make it a positive experience for the kid. His parents thought we were great. Our department still has a good relationship with that family. It was good PR and it was my first experience with it.

Another thing I’ve learned from Matt is what it’s like to stand through adversity. His back injury is something that put him through more than I can imagine. He was in a spot where he was vulnerable in ways he wasn’t used to and he is an even stronger person today because of it. To add to that, he was our Union President and he wasn’t shy about making tough decisions during some trying times to be a member of a union. He stood out in front of us all with a debilitating back injury that left him vulnerable and he went to bat for us time after time without flinching.

There’s probably a hundred more memories like this I could write about Matt and it wouldn’t even scratch the surface.

I’ve heard my chief and other seasoned firefighters talk about the veterans they knew that busted their asses when they were probies and how it’s not like that anymore. It never occurred to me until recently that Matt was one of those guys to me. Matt was the tough, hard-nosed, ass-kicking, always learning, ready to haze and put you in your place mentor that I needed during my first year on the job. And even though I’m still new, the type of person I want to be in this profession I owe partially to Matt. He taught me the brotherhood and I’m proud to call him my brother.

It’s a very tough thing to see someone with so much experience and talent leave this job but I know things will be great for Matt in the future. That’s just how things are for Haines. I’m just thankful I got to learn from the guy when I did.