Fighting Fires, Saving Lives
Photos and Writing by Dylan Greene
For my photo essay, I wanted to choose something that would be visually appealing to viewers and fun to shoot. When ideas started racing through my mind one stood out: firefighters. These are the people that put their lives on the line and step into the fire in order to save lives. In order to be crazy enough to do such a job, you have to love it and that’s what I found when I went to talk to the firefighters at the Pullman Fire Department. They risk their lives to save others, but they downplayed the significance and explained how it was just a part of the job. I felt I captured the Labor of Love theme with my photo essay, but it was difficult to encapsulate what the firefighters do because what they do can’t be represented by just a few images.
Keeton examines the cab of Engine 31. He flips the power on, checks his mirrors and glances at the fuel gauge each time before driving the firetruck.
Paramedic and firefighter Steve Potratz-Lee attempts to buff out a scratch on one of the ambulances inside the fire department.
Firefighter Bob Jarosch wanted to be a firefighter when he was a kid. Now he is living out his dream.
Potratz-Lee holds a drill that is used to flush fluid into the bone marrow and comes with an Intraosseous kit.
Firefighter and EMT Dan Keeton pulls out extradiction equipment from Engine 31 used for cutting apart cars to save people that are trapped.
Potratz-Lee checks the expiration date on a bottle. "We just got to make sure all the things that you would need in a critical situation are right where you need them," he said.
Potratz-Lee said he enjoys working the weekends and thoroughly checking the medical kits. "I kind of like the weekends. They're just a little slower paced and then at night they're faster paced because all the students are going nuts."
Keeton has been a firefighter for 21 years and takes pride in helping others when no one else can.
Keeton pulls out the hydrant kit from the pump panel at the rear of Engine 31.
Potratz-Lee holds a needle from an Intraosseous kit and explains how sometimes they have to use this kit instead of an IV to find someone's vein.