By Janet Borchardt
Cade Hardy’s seventeenth birthday marked something he had looked forward to his whole life: joining the fire department. He added to his family’s legacy, as he became a fifth generation firefighter.
“Becoming a firefighter has been my dream for as long as I can remember. Growing up, my bedroom walls were yellow and had fire trucks on them. I always dressed up as a firefighter. I always looked up to my dad and knew that I wanted to be a firefighter like him someday,” Hardy commented.
His title is technically “junior firefighter,” which means he isn’t able to take part in hazardous things. However, he is still able to observe and spend time with the group of firefighters.
“It’s a cool feeling to be able to say that I’m part of such a good group of men. I’ve grown up around many of them and known them for all my life. I feel accepted around them,” Cade said.
To head off his fire experience, the group had a training burn in a buyout home on October 14, 2018. During this, Cade hooked up a hose to a fire hydrant and learned all the different buttons and gears inside the fire trucks. For the majority of the training burn, he was observing.
“The practice burn helped introduce me to what it’s like and gave me good perspective of what I’ll have to do in the future. I learned a lot. It was very exciting just to be watching it,” Hardy stated.
Once Cade turns 18, he will be able to become a full firefighter after a lot of training.
Hardy offers advice to anyone looking to join. “Know what you’re getting into. Do some research, and make sure you understand what it’s like.”
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