Firefighter Friday: William Bryant of the Stittville Fire Department
This week's featured firefighter may be young, but he's showing how dedicated he is to being involved at the fire station and helping his community.
We did things a little differently for this week's "Firefighter Friday." Melinda Boehlert was the one to nominate William for Firefighter Friday. Actually, Will is her son, and she had some amazing things to say about him. We wanted to share some of those amazing words with you.
First of all, Melinda mentioned that while most young adults are out with their friends and enjoying their free time, Will chose to help out his community by volunteering at the fire department. This, at the age of 17. Will found the way to balance being a senior in high school (and keeping up with all his school work), while taking Firefighter 1 classes at night.
We've talked to other firefighters who explained to us that Firefighter 1 classes train students to be interior firefighters. As in, actually going into the burning buildings. And this is what Will wants to do, which is such a courageous act for a young man.
But it's not just school and firefighter classes that Will is dealing with. His mother explains,
[There's] a lot on his plate, as his grandfather was diagnosed with stage IV prostate cancer when his firefighter class started.
What a tragic and terrible thing to have in the back of your mind any time, let alone trying to continue your firefighting journey. But that doesn't stop Will...
Will continued to push on with unknown strength to complete his senior year and firefighter 1 class.
On top of all this, Will was also a part of this year's Central New York Memorial Stair Climb to honor a fallen brother during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
For all that Will does already in his firefighting career, being so dedicated as a young adult, and being an inspiration to others, we're proud to recognize him and feature him for this week's "Firefighter Friday."
If you know of a firefighter you think deserves recognition for the job they do, you can nominate them to be featured for "Firefighter Friday." You can get more details and the form to fill out at the link below: