Bill Baughn | Fernandina Beach, FL

Part of being a firefighter is responding to emergencies… A bigger part of the job is existing with brothers and sisters at the fire station for 24 hours every third day.

After completing his bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Bill Baughn hadn’t found his passion in that field. One night, he was contemplating a career change while watching Rescue 9-1-1 — that’s when he decided to give firefighting a shot.

Within months, he had begun his training and was on the way to becoming a firefighter. It wasn’t long after he began training that he earned a position at the Fernandina Beach Fire Department (FBFD). Bill has been with FBFD ever since.

For you young guys and gals who are considering entering the fire service, Bill has some words of advice for you.

“Talk to a firefighter. This job is truly like no other and you really need to get to know someone in the fire service to see if the job is for you.”

Once great way to talk with firefighters and learn if the job is right for you is to do a ride-along. This is a very important step in determining whether firefighting is for you or not. Bill encourages you: if you’re still interested at that point, go to EMT school and begin the process of entering the fire service.

There’s nothing like hands on experience for you to determine whether or not it’s something you want to do.

With a college degree to his name, Bill stood out among the group when he first got on at FBFD. During his interview, the fire chief asked, “How are you going to fit in with the rest of the firefighters as a college boy?”

“I came in with the attitude that I didn’t know anything and wanted to learn everything they knew.”

This humility went a long way for Bill in his efforts to fit in at the station. But humility alone was not enough to earn him a spot on the totem pole of the department. His hard work and determination to become a great firefighter was what earned him the respect he craved from his new colleagues.

It didn’t happen immediately however because of a strange theory the other firefighters had about why Bill was hired. Because he had a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, the other firefighters at the department were convinced that Bill had been hired by the fire chief to do psych evaluations on each of them.

They were convinced he was a spy.

He had to work extra hard to earn his spot in the tight-knit department. After several months, Bill was finally able to convince his colleagues that he wasn’t a spy and that he was in fact, there because he wanted to be a firefighter!

Be humble and be a sponge. As an adult, in his second career, Bill was not a normal rookie firefighter. It was this attitude of openness and eagerness that afforded him a warm welcome from the other firefighters at the department (after, of course, they were sure that he wasn’t a spy).

Bill helping a student at Fernandina Beach Middle School put on bunker gear.

Give the veterans the respect they’re due. Come in with a humble heart and thirsty mind. Always strive to learn and grow as a better firefighter.

Baughn helping a student at Fernandina Beach Middle School put on bunker gear.

At school, you only learn the basics. While these basics are essential, they do not prepare you fully for work in the fire station. Once you get to the department, you have to learn how they do things and how you can fit in with the group.

Part of being a firefighter is responding to emergencies… A bigger part of the job is existing with brothers and sisters at the fire station for 24 hours every third day. You can’t learn about how to coexist from a textbook.

When Bill began his career in the fire service, the first few months were pretty slow. He started feeling a little guilty getting paid for not doing much work.

Well, it didn’t take long for Bill to realize why the city was more than happy to pay him.

There is a paper mill in Fernandina, where Bill works. One of the sections of the mill features molten sulfur tanks with floating lids. The sulfur would sometimes harden and stick to the lid over time. Eventually, one of those lids caught on fire.

The only way to get to the lid of the tank was to crawl down a rickety cat walk with a rope tied to you so they could pull you out if the cat walk collapsed.

Baughn and his colleagues began emptying one fire extinguisher after another on the lid of the molten sulfur tank to put it out. They continued doing this for three days straight.

From that call on, Bill never felt guilty taking his check home.