Why do firefighters go to the grocery store together on a fire truck while on duty?

Your Taylor firefighters are always ready to respond. One of the unique oddities of the trade is that the shifts are 24 hours long. The company an individual firefighter is assigned to becomes a surrogate family. Firefighters eat together, spend 24 hours (and sometimes 48 hours) together at a stretch, have disagreements, laugh, and generally experience long periods of busy work interjected with short bursts of life threatening and split-second decisions. Firefighting has long been recognized as one of the most stressful careers available.

The Taylor Fire Department encourages it’s firefighters to sit down with each other at least once a shift and have a meal together. It is very much like having dinner with your family at home. Meals are often filled with lots of general conversation and lots of laughter. In order to facilitate some of these meals, the firefighters go as a group to the grocery store. They go as a group so that they can (and often do) stop shopping, leave the grocery cart where it sits, and respond to a request for assistance from the citizens.

Our firefighters are never far away from the engine or each other. They get no formal “breaks.” Even though they may be buying groceries, these firefighters are still available for 911 calls.

Show All Answers

1. Where are the fire stations located in town?
2. When do I change my smoke detector batteries?
3. Why do both a fire truck and an ambulance always show up for a medical emergency?
4. Why do so many units respond to “simple” incidents?
5. Why do fire trucks go through a red light with lights & sirens then turn off their lights and slow down?
6. Why do firefighters go to the grocery store together on a fire truck while on duty?
7. Why are the fire engines left running on calls?