A couple months after his first year as a full-time firefighter, T.J. Howard had what he calls one of his toughest nights on duty.
It was June 26, the night of the fire at Kinston Towers.
“I was working that night with Ladder Company 18, and we had responded to it, but we ended up where there was a fire on the second floor, and we needed to evacuate 150 people out of the entire building,” Howard said.
“And, we had the call come in at about 11 that night, and we cleared and got back to the station about 7 the next morning. We spent the entire night evacuating from the bottom floor all the way to the top – up and down, every single floor with all our gear.”
Howard began work as a firefighter in the Southwood Volunteer Fire Department before deciding to do it for a living in April 2012.
“Actually, I’ve been a volunteer firefighter for 10 years now, and I just love doing firefighting. So, I decided to make a career out of it,” Howard said.
He pointed out that a benefit of the Kinston Department of Public Safety assisting on EMS calls is being able to participate in saving more lives.
“We started running EMS calls, and we’ve been fortunate where we’ve been able to get the people breathing again, before they get to the hospital, so that’s probably the best thing, actually – saving someone,” Howard said.
He noted the motivation for working in the fire service came from what simply happened on a day-to-day basis, and influence coming from growing up in a family of firefighters.
“I just love coming to work. I just love running the calls, because every call’s different,” Howard said. “And, you train very hard for anything you might come across, but you never know what you’re really getting into.”
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.
Breakout Box
Name: T.J. Howard
Agency: Kinston Department of Public Safety
Rank: Fire Control Specialist
Joined: April 2012
Education: South Lenoir High School, 2003