Kory Pearn | London, ON
“Be who you want to be for the people who matter.”
Kory Pearn didn’t grow up dreaming of firefighting. At 23, he was set to take over his father’s refrigeration business—until a recruitment night flipped the script. Now a veteran firefighter and founder of CRACKYL magazine, Kory’s journey blends resilience, creativity, and a hard-earned lesson: simplicity can save you. From a near-fatal health crisis to a basement full of Lego, he’s turned personal trials into a mission for the fire service.
What initially inspired you to become a firefighter?
Many firefighters have origin stories rooted in childhood—sirens in the distance, a parent in uniform. Kory’s begins later, almost by accident. “I never wanted this—never even considered it,” he recalled.
He was 23, a refrigeration mechanic with a clear path, when a conversation with his father nudged him toward an information night at his local fire department. “I went alone, which wasn’t in my nature.” There, amid the chiefs’ voices and the room’s electric hum, something shifted. “It was an aura I couldn’t name—'Where has this been?’” he thought.
He told his girlfriend (now wife), “I want to be a firefighter,” and she told him to go for it. Two years later, he was hired. “This is what I was crafted to do,” he concluded. The fire service had been waiting to claim him all along.
Kory (middle) with colleagues and peers, representing CRACKYL Magazine at a firefighter conference.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Kory’s a rolling stone off-duty. He fronts a cover band, plays drums in an original act, and jams with his 16-year-old daughter, a guitar prodigy who loves Ozzy Osbourne. “Music’s huge for me,” he says. He has also restored 1950s jukeboxes with his brother, digitizing them for modern use. Then there’s Lego—a hobby turned lifeline during his health struggles. “I never feel like I’m working or off,” he laughed. “There’s always something.” These distractions, he insists, keep life vibrant.
Kory with actor Denis Leary who started the Leary Firefighters Foundation, donating over $3.5 million to help firefighters buy critical technology.
What advice do you have for others in the fire service?
“Be who you want to be for the people who matter,” he stated. His own near-miss—a brush with congestive heart failure that nearly claimed him—taught him to act, not react.
“Pay attention to how you’re doing,” he urged firefighters, pressing them to check their own limits before a crisis checks it for them. “You’ve got to look at how well you’re doing and how fragile you are,” he explained, his voice steady with conviction. “If you were to be diagnosed with cancer tomorrow, what would you do?” he posed. Then he followed with, “Why wait [to make those changes]?”
He has seen how the fire service can harm those who don’t pause to reflect on the big picture. “We get a lot of burnout and fatigue with just going to work and coming home every shift. You need to look at that and figure out what you’re missing,” he pointed out.
For Kory, it is not just about surviving the calls, but thriving beyond them. “You have so much time to do certain things and to move the fire service forward,” he reflected, noting how the years slipped by—days blending into weeks, then months, then decades. “If you’re not accounted for, you’ll be a statistic,” he cautioned.
What changes do you foresee in the next 5 years in the fire service?
Kory sees a shifting landscape. “Government grants are stalling and we won’t feel the dust settle for years,” he predicts. Yet he’s optimistic that organizations will find a way to stand on their own, and the fire service will continue to thrive. He highlighted local conferences bring people together from all over the globe.
In five years, he imagined a fire service that holds onto its blue-collar roots while driving for continued growth—a blend of tradition and tenacity. “It’s an exciting time,” he smiled. “We’ll magnify that momentum.”
Kory with actor Michael J. Fox — Canadian-American actor known for his movie roles including Back to the Future and his advocacy for Parkinson’s disease research.
Kory’s story that he shared was one of awakening and learning to find happiness in the simple things.
After years of brushing off atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure struck Kory hard. His heart was operating at a 20% ejection rate (well-below the typical 50-70%). “I was on my deathbed,” he recalled.
One night, he finally accepted that he needed to go to the hospital. That decision saved his life after being hospitalized for a week, then beginning a long journey of recovery.
He stared down the loss of his career and kept pushing forward. After beginning to collect some Lego kits with his kids, Lego slowly became his lifeline. He dove into bulk sets, built with his daughters, and drove all over the state buying Lego sets until his collection sprawled across three rooms. “It slowed life down and gave me time to spend with my kids,” he said. Today, Kory has an impressive collection of Lego, ranging from shelves full of Lego people to a full-size Fender guitar.
That obsession turned into an unexpected springboard. “Selling it funded CRACKYL,” he grinned, recounting his CBC News interview in a fire truck. “Something so simple saved me. Find those distractions—they put color in your life.”
What is CRACKYL Magazine?
CRACKYL Magazine emerged as Kory’s answer to a gap he saw in the fire service—a space where firefighters could find not just camaraderie, but practical tools to thrive. Launched in late 2019, it became a lifestyle and health publication tailored for firefighters, blending gritty realism with a mission to mentor and inspire. The magazine tackles the raw edges of the job—stress, fitness, finance, relationships—offering no-nonsense advice from experts and firefighters alike.
With 17 issues published and seven more issues planned for 2025, CRACKYL has grown into a community hub. Its mobile app brings all of the vital content from the issues directly to the firefighter on-demand. This growth serves as confirmation of Kory’s belief that balance is not a luxury, but a necessity for those who run toward the flames.
Kory encourages firefighters who want to push themselves forward to download the CRACKYL mobile app, which brings a free, ever-evolving resource to their pocket.
Learn more and download the mobile app at www.CRACKYL.com.
EaseAlert makes the alerting process safer and faster for firefighters like Kory. Learn more here.