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Station Life

In most careers, the individual spends about eight hours per day at their work location and then goes home to their family in the evening, on weekends, and Holidays.  However the life of a Firefighter is somewhat different.  In the case of the Firefighters at the Panama City Fire Department, most spend approximately 1/3 of their lives at the Fire Station.  Seventy-three of the seventy-eight State Certified members of the Department work 24 hour shifts with their day beginning at 7 a.m. on one morning and ending at 7 a.m. on the next morning.  After their 24 hour duty day is completed, the Firefighter is then off for 48 hours and then the cycle repeats.  This 3-day duty cycle repeats continuously throughout the year and includes weekends, holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.  However, this work schedule also keeps Firefighters ready to respond to an Emergency 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Working this unusual schedule keeps Firefighter away from their families for extended periods of time and requires a special type of person and family to adapt to this schedule.

When a Firefighter reports for duty, there are a number of things that must be done on a daily basis in order to ensure readiness for response to Emergency Incidents.  Beginning with their arrival for duty at 7a.m., their daily duty regiment kicks off and includes, but is not limited to:
  • Assuring that their personal protective clothing and breathing equipment are in position on the Apparatus, working properly, and ready for response to an Incident.Checking and maintaining all Fire Equipment to make sure that it is functional and ready for immediate response.
  • Maintaining the Fire Station and various other daily housekeeping duties around the station.
  • Conducting and participating in continuing education training which includes both classroom and practical application activities designed to maintain current skill levels as well as introduction and learning of new skills. 
  • Participation in required fitness training programs, 
Firefighters also participate in numerous public education activities such as station tours, fire truck displays, and other activities in the community designed to promote Fire Safety Education.

Although many of these activities may take place primarily in the morning part of the Firefighters’ day, when lunch time arrives, Firefighters are just as interested in their noon-time meal as everyone else. Given the dynamic that a Firefighter’s duty is for an entire 24-hour day; all of our stations are equipped with kitchens and most fire crews have at least one good cook who, time permitting, prepares their lunch time meal.  In the event that time or response requirements don’t permit, you may sometimes see fire crews out in the community eating lunch at a local restaurant.  However, just remember, whether cooking their meal, eating their meal at the Fire Station or at a local restaurant, if an alarm comes in, Firefighters will leave their meals and immediately respond to the call for service. 

In contrasting today’s Fire Service with what it was 10 to 15 years ago, Firefighters are constantly being called upon to take on an ever expanding role in providing for the safety of the community.  As a result of this expanding role, the educational and training level of today’s Firefighters has become much more demanding.  In order to keep abreast of this ever changing environment, the hours between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. are primarily dedicated to training activities designed to hone current skills and/or develop new ones.  The Panama City Fire Department feels that dedicating this significant portion of the day to training helps keep our Firefighters knowledgeable in the methods and techniques required to keep themselves as well as their community safe.  Training activities, which may be either classroom or practical application, include, but are not limited to:
  • Procedures for the safe use and operation of all firefighting equipment, personal protective clothing, and breathing equipment. 
  • Rescue Operations for Fires, Water Rescue, Vehicle Extrication, Rescue from Elevated locations, Building Collapse Rescue, and Firefighter Survival, to name a few.
  • Study of Street and Fire Hydrant locations within the City of Panama City.  This segment also includes the study of locations and operation of Fire Sprinkler and other Fire Protection Systems within the City. 
  • Review of and/or site visits to Special Hazards such as Oil Terminals and Hazardous Materials Storage.
  • Preparation for Hurricanes, Tornados and other Natural Disasters, as well as Terrorist type incidents.

During training activities, as also noted during a Firefighter’s meal time, these activities are accomplished in addition to responding to Emergencies.  If an Alarm comes in while Firefighters are training, they will halt the training operations and immediately respond to the alarm.

Assuming that all of the day’s duties have been performed, generally speaking, the time frame after 4:00 p.m. and until 7:00 a.m. the next morning is a time that Firefighters can wind down from the day’s frenzy of activities. Firefighters can work out, study for promotional exams, work on college level courses to expand their education, watch television, read, visit with family members / friends and/or participate in other activities approved by the Department.  However, once again as with station duties, meal time and training activities, if an alarm is sounded, Firefighters will drop what they are doing and immediately respond to the alarm.

Although the “On-the-Job” life of a Firefighter is somewhat different than that of the normal 5-day work week, we feel that station life at the Panama City Fire Department is full of activities and excitement.  Firefighters with the Department are positive and motivated to serve our community with the care and concern that can only come from the family type environment in which they work.  Being a Firefighter with the Panama City Fire Department is more than just a job, it is being a member of a family that is close knit because of the time they spend together and the situations that they face together as a team.