Personally I’ve always viewed them as these muscular, broad shouldered muscular men carrying big axes. You know the ones, almost super hero like. And yet, here I am at a whopping 125lbs and 5′9″ and considered a veteran (notice I didn’t say old) in our department. Would I be the typical image of a firefighter that might come to mind for most citizens?

No matter the physical stature many have in our heads or the professional uniforms we wear, there is another image of a firefighter that many don’t see – off duty.

Volunteer firefighters will normally have a full-time job during the day and volunteer their free time at night to the fire department. While full-time firefighters will hold down a part-time job during their off days. But we all have interests beyond the fire service such as sports, woodworking and yes, even us geeks who toy with computers and programming.

We are everyday human beings who have families, homes to take care of, kids to take to events. And yet, we’re often times portrayed as firefighters 24/7. Sure, we all “live the life” that way, but should we be portrayed outside the public view that way?

If you were to market your department looking for members, what would be the first image you would use to say “this is a firefighter”?

In your next campaign to recruit, I would highly suggest taking these everyday life images and incorporating them into your materials along with the typical firefighters dressed in full turnout and fire trucks. You might be surprised how much that little image addition can add to your responses.