×

FD firefighter finds ‘second family’

Reynolds marks two-year anniversary with department

-Messenger photo by Peter Kaspari Fort Dodge Firefighter/Paramedic Jason Reynolds prepares to load a stretcher back into Medic 8 at the fire station. Reynolds recently celebrated two years with the Fort Dodge Fire Department.

Jason Reynolds hadn’t even been with the Fort Dodge Fire Department for a year when he experienced the most memorable fire of his career.

Reynolds, a firefighter and paramedic, had been with the department for just over nine months on Jan. 18, 2016, when the building serving as a warehouse for Graham Tire, 1520 Central Ave., went up in flames.

Part of what made it so memorable was that it was right across the street from the fire station.

“We were pulling out the door before the tones went off,” Reynolds said.

He said one of the firefighters spotted the inferno when they looked out the window and saw all the smoke.

Reynolds called it “the biggest fire I’ve ever seen.”

But while the fire burned for hours and smoldered for days afterward, Reynolds himself only got to spend a short time on scene.

“I felt bad because I ended up getting injured about an hour and a half in the fire, and ended up at the hospital instead of here with the guys working on it,” he said.

Although he was hurt in the fire, Reynolds said he was still able to contribute to putting out the blaze.

“I got to do a lot of work in the hour and a half that I was here,” he said. “And since it was right across the street, that’s always going to stick in our heads as one of our biggest fires.”

Reynolds, who reached his two-year anniversary with the Fire Department on Friday, said prior to joining the department, he worked in a different type of public service.

“I was working part-time as a police officer in Dayton and I took an EMT course to help out the ambulance service down there while I was working,” he said.

After going to school to become a paramedic, he met one of the Fort Dodge firefighters, who told Reynolds that he should apply for the Fort Dodge Fire Department.

“He told me I’d love this place if I ever applied,” Reynolds said. “I gave it a shot and applied and got it.”

“It’s a pretty great place,” he added, “a pretty awesome job.”

While he enjoys being a firefighter and paramedic, Reynolds admitted when he first started, he was nervous about going into burning buildings to help put them out.

“At first, the thought of going into a fire scared the heck out of me,” he said, but added after awhile, it became routine. “It’s one of those things that we practice so we can get good at it, so the fear goes away.”

“It’s almost fun to get in there,” Reynolds added. “It’s a good feeling to get in and get a fire knocked down.”

Currently assigned to the Medic 8 crew, much of Reynolds’ time is taken up responding to medical emergencies.

He said every call for emergency medical services is different and unique in its own way.

“It’s the worst day of their lives,” he said, “so being able to be there to help them on the worst day of their lives is a good feeling.”

Because Medic 8 is usually the second or third ambulance called to emergencies, Reynolds said he doesn’t respond to as many calls as he would if he had another assignment.

But that will change on May 1, when he will start serving on Engine 4, the department’s medical fire engine. Reynolds said Engine 4 can go from between four and five all the way up to 15 or more calls a day. It also gets dispatched overnight, so Reynolds said he expects he’ll be busy starting next month.

Reynolds said he enjoys being a firefighter/paramedic, but his favorite part of the job is his colleagues.

“I enjoy the camaraderie,” he said. “This is my second family.”

He added that, when he goes into the fire station, he doesn’t feel like he’s going to work.

“You know you’re in the right place, you know you’re working in the right job when you want to come to work,” he said. “When you get up in the morning and say, ‘I get to go to work’ versus ‘I have to go to work,’ you know you’re in the right place.”

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today