Crime & Safety

Local Firefighters say Love for the Job is in Their Blood

"You can go from one to 1000 in a nanosecond. Everything is calm and fine, and then bam! All hell breaks loose."

It takes a special kind to run towards a fire.

Sandy Springs firefighters say helping people is a passion and sometimes an adrenaline rush, but the job is not without its challenges. They work 24-hour shifts – several shifts at a stretch if they choose to do so. And the emergency calls can come in a flash. 

“You’ve got to be physically and mentally prepared to deal with it, no matter what comes,” said Royce Turner, a part-time firefighter in Sandy Springs and full-timer for the City of Atlanta.

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“You can go from one to 1000 in a nanosecond. Everything is calm and fine, and then bam! All hell breaks loose. That kind of stress on your mind and body can wear you down if you’re not mentally strong,” said Turner.

He’s used to it. When Sandy Springs Patch visited Fire Station No. 2, on Friday, the fireman was in the midst of a four-day tour between the Sandy Springs and Atlanta departments.

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Some shifts start out slow with a few calls or false alarms. Other times as soon as firefighters return from a call, they are called out on another and then another. 

In between calls, during the evening, the fire station turns into more of a relaxed home atmosphere – until an emergency call comes in. At that point, everything but the emergency goes away, said Capt. Robert Rogers, who has been a Sandy Springs firefighter since incorporation.

Rogers still works part-time for the Roswell FD, just as he has for the last 25 years.

"If [the call says] 'At 4507 Johnson Ferry Road, mother advising child is drowning in a swimming pool.' No matter if food is on the table, no matter what. We turn the stove off; we're out the door," he said. 

“Whenever we go on a call we can make an immediate difference in someone’s life,” Rogers added. He is also a retired as a Battalion Chief from the Alpharetta Fire Department. 

Rogers recalled a special save during a Roswell fire: “I had a lady and we had a house fire. But her daughter was going to be getting married. We saved half the house where her daughter’s wedding dress was, and the family Bible. To bring that dress out and to see that gratification; to be able to make an immediate difference in somebody’s life…”

Leanne Billew worked EMS before she became a firefighter. She is one of three full-time Sandy Springs firefighters, who are female.

Billew points out that being a firefighter is not a job you can fake your way through.

“Our gear by itself weighs anywhere from 50-60lbs,” she said. “And then you have to pick up a tool to go in, or the hose. You’re lifting as much as those guys. You’ve got to get elbow deep and lift it.”

In such a male-dominated arena, Billew adds, “You have to work hard to prove yourself and earn the respect from the men that you can do the job. But once you do you’re just like family.”

It also helps that Sandy Springs Fire Chief Jack McElfish praises the few women firefighters.

She continued, “Chief McElfish, all the time, is talking about how we are smart and so strong and it’s really cool to get that kind of support from the Chief, because it is a hard job.”


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