Whether you’re volunteer or career the bottom line is being a firefighter is the greatest job on the planet.  There are a multitude of reasons for this including but not limited to serving your community and the sense of satisfaction knowing you can overcome the physical hardships of wearing turnout gear, on air while carrying tools and hauling a charged hose line.  What other profession can combine the mental challenge of devising a plan to quash the flames and/or rescue potential victims with the adrenaline rush of actually extinguishing a fire.  Even training can be exciting when you learn and apply a new tactic on the fireground.

As if that wasn’t enough firefighting also has some inherent and built in aspects that provide balance and round out the experience.  There really are A LOT of fun angles to being a firefighter and part of a firehouse.  Sometimes the fun literally smacks you in the face to the point you can’t avoid having a good time but also remember that like most organizations you get out of it exactly what you put into it.  

If you take an active role in open house and recruiting events, the Memorial Day Parade, fish fry, BBQ and the pancake breakfasts your experience as a firefighter will increase ten-fold in a positive direction.  Those are all events that bring your community together and participation can be very satisfying and a lot of fun.  These are well known events though so let’s discuss a lesser-known and more personal aspect of a firefighter’s life that not only is a lot of fun but also has the power to bring generations together – that’s right music!

In any firehouse there is inevitably a good demographic mix.  Although firematics is the strong link that assembles and binds us together in order for camaraderie to take root and sustain itself there really needs to be an association beyond fire.  Music is such a formidable connection that it can bind firefighters to each other and to the firehouse in spite of any inherent differences.  It is those extracurricular ties that ultimately translate to the fireground helping to form a coherent team when battling the flames. 

The key to making those connections, especially when it comes to music is being open and willing to listen to a genre, song or band that is meaningful to your colleagues.  Having grown up in the ‘70s and ‘80s I can’t tell you how many of my friends that relative to music are literally stuck in those decades and even refuse to listen to anything newer than 1989.  Ridiculous!  Of course, the flip side is also true for younger generations coming up as Explorers and rookie firefighters.  Don’t just dismiss a song as “old people music”.     

Think about this scenario:  Its that time of year to give your apparatus a thorough cleansing and the entire firehouse dedicates at least one maybe two drill nights to getting it done.  A whole year’s worth of dirt and filth that needs to be gone and, in its stead, a sparkling firetruck everyone will be proud to display for the upcoming parade.  

A daunting task to be sure but add some music while you work and not only does the task go by quicker, you’ll see who likes to dance, who may have a great singing voice and who can play the best air drums (or actual instruments).  You’ll see who likes Def Leppard, The Charlie Daniels Band, Alicia Keys, Pitbull etc...  

Maybe you hear a song that you haven’t heard in years and it reminds you of a story worth sharing with other firefighters.  Maybe you will hear your all-time favorite song – for me in spite of being a huge country music fan that song is Dreams from Van Halen.  Just recently I started taking drum lessons – a bucket list item to be sure but already made a connection with another firefighter in my department who was also a percussionist (in high school).  

As we all know the fire service also places a premium on physical and mental and emotional health.  Music is a major force in stress reduction by lowering cortisol which is the primary stress hormone and induces relaxation.  It is also important in cardiovascular health by reducing blood pressure and slowing pulse rates.  Music can also affect and enhance your mood, acts as a distraction from pain and helps manage depression.  Indeed, listening to music helps firefighters process emotions and positively boost mental health.      

With all the general benefits that music brings to firefighters there seemed only one thing left to do – create a playlist specifically for firefighters.  In the included playlist the theme is clear and of course not finite.  Admittedly, scouring my music collection for fire related songs was a blast.  One notable item is the multiple genres and generations represented because it was designed in part to bring as many people together as possible.   

Alabama – There’s a Fire in the Night

Alice Cooper – House of Fire

Alicia Keys – Girl on Fire

Billy Joel – We Didn’t Start the Fire

Black Hawk – Down in Flames

Brooks and Dunn – I Can’t Put Out This Fire

Buster Poindexter – Hot Hot Hot

Def Leppard – Rock of Ages

Dokken – Burning Like a Flame

Jerry Lee Lewis – Great Balls of Fire

Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire

Kansas - Fight Fire with Fire

Kiss – Heaven’s on Fire

Pitbull – Fireball

Power Station – Some Like it Hot

Talking Heads – Burnin’ Down the House

The Doors – Light My Fire

The Trammps – Disco Inferno

So, relax firefighters! We have the greatest job in the world but sometimes you gotta put it all aside, make a playlist and listen to some tunes.  Most importantly though share your music with your colleagues and help create that comradery and team first mind set that will help in recruitment and retention and makes being a firefighter worth every minute.