Excerpts from the Chicago Tribune.com:

Evanston firefighters told stories of how they got into the profession and, for some, what they miss the most from their earlier firefighting days, all as they sipped coffee Thursday with residents.

“I went to school for fine arts, painting,” said Howie Lakin, an EFD fire apparatus operator.

Firefighting requires him to keep both his mind and body in shape, he said, and gives him time to practice art on the side.

The staff of Engine 23 joined with Evanston’s past and present fire chiefs for the “Coffee with a Firefighter” community socializing event at Berry Pike Cafe in downtown Evanston. A few residents sat down for conversation, asking things like what was so attractive about working as a firefighter.

Captain Tony Yee said he first worked as a hospital emergency room nurse before he gave firefighting a shot.

“I went to my first fire academy and thought, ‘hey, this is fun,'” Yee recalled.

Firefighter Luke Holthaus recalled that when he was growing up in Glenview, his neighbor two doors down was a fireman.

And Fire Chief Brian Scott said he comes from a family of police officers and iron workers, but decided to be a firefighter after an uncle, the only other firefighter in the family, took him for a ride in an engine when Scott was 14.

“I was hooked,” said Scott, who added that as chief, he misses riding on the engine every day.

The Evanston Fired Department has a current staff of 110, a head count that has “been the same for the past 30 years,” said former police Chief Greg Klaiber. He now works as director of emergency management for Northwestern University.

 

thanks Dan

Tags: Coffee with a Firefighter, Evanston Fire Department