Josh Smits: Firefighter

How do you feel about becoming a firefighter?

I became a firefighter 10 years ago. And it was a really satisfying thing to do, because it gave me an opportunity to do a job where I felt like I was being helpful in my community. So it's a very satisfying job.

What was the biggest fire that you have saved?

As far I’ve been to, Kiwi storage. Five years ago beside the airport, the kiwi storage buildings were on fire for about three days.

Why do you want to become a firefighter?

So, in my other job, I'm an illustrator, so I do kid books and things like that. And when I work on that I'm working very much on my own. But when I'm working as a firefighter, I'm working as part of a team. So I think being part of a bigger team that is doing something really positive together was what inspired me to become a firefighter.

What do you do in your spare time when you aren't fighting fires?

Yeah, well say I probably do my artwork, which is doing my illustration stuff.

Do you still want to be a firefighter in the future?

Yep, yep. So at the moment, I'm about to go to Australia for 12 months. And I'm looking at the options of getting into the Australian Fire Service while I'm there with the Queensland Fire Service. But is that I will come back in 12 months anyway. So I'll go back to my job.

Do you think you're inspiring people to be a firefighter?

I do come to schools. In fact, I've been to the school before to do Fire Wise. So we tell people, it’s a great job. So hopefully it inspires a couple of people here and there to become firefighters, because we always need new firefighters every year. We have a lot of firefighters that are getting a little bit older, even older than me, believe it or not. And they are starting to leave the job. So we always need new firefighters.

Is it hard to get ready and to get everything prepared when somebody is in trouble?

Yep, it can be when it's three o'clock in the morning, when you've been asleep for a couple of hours and the bells go off. It can be a little bit disorientating. And sometimes you even might need to do a couple of circles around your bedroom before you realize where you are sometimes are. So that's the hardest time and in the middle of the night, because you can't take your time to wake up. You've just got to get into it as quick as possible.

So do you sleep at the fire station?

Yeah, so we do two days in a row, which is 7am to 5pm in the afternoon. Then we come back the next day, and we start at five o'clock in the afternoon in go through to seven o'clock in the morning. We do two nights like that after our two days in on those two nights, we stay at the fire station. So we do our all our jobs around the fire station in the evening. And then probably about 10 o'clock. Most guys try and get a couple hours sleep itself. There's no fires going on at that time.

Some people in this class call you a hero, what do you say about that?

Um, I think hero was a very strong word. We just do our job, and we enjoy doing our job. I think if you're joining the job to be a hero, you're probably joining up for the wrong reason, possibly. But that's just my opinion.

Do you have any kids?

Yes I do, I have two boys. They're 30 and 27 and two step sons, who are 19 and 18. And I have five granddaughter’s.

Do they get inspired to be a firefighter just like you?

None of the boys have made any noises about it yet. Yeah, but everybody's different. Everybody wants to do their own thing. I think that’s a really positive thing to do.