Someone call 9-1-Fun because we have got a hot one in the lagoon today!  He’s taken ladies, (sorry) but I haven’t laughed this hard or sighed this much in a long time.  Please give your warmest welcome to Marcus, Oklahoma son, Firefighter, and our resident Mer-man for the day!

Carlene: Hi Marcus!  Thank you so much for hanging out with us today!  Let’s get right to it!  Please tell us about your decision to become a firefighter and how long you’ve been doing it.

Marcus: Looking back when I was growing up I found myself looking at what was considered to my dad as work yet he never once spoke bad about it. Visiting him at the fire station and seeing the guys act as a family did when at home together was interesting to me for I had friends’ parents complaining of their own work and coworkers. I’m not so sure I chose to be a firefighter; instead the profession chose me. I can’t imagine me doing anything else. I’ve been serving the OCFD (Oklahoma City Fire Department) for seven and one half years and like my dad I can’t recall talking bad about it.

Carlene:  What is something you’ve done and never ever want to do again?

Marcus: Many times people ask how we do what we do and see what we see. I can only answer that from personal experiences. The example is when a call came in to
check the welfare of an individual. Upon arrival it was noted the individual was deceased. This is when the police would normally release us but the funeral home that was servicing the family couldn’t get the body out without help.  Minor detail is that this individual hadn’t been seen for 2 weeks…I’m sure you can fill in the details. We helped remove the deceased and finally were released by the police. During the removal process, as with any horrific scene, I put myself in a sort of emotionless state of mind, however, I could go the rest of my career without assisting in that again.

Carlene:  What is something you’d do all the time if you could?

Marcus:  Firefighters have the opportunity to stress release each in their own ways. Some go to the lake every day off. Some go do the night life scene. Mine is a bit closer to home. I like collecting movies but more importantly I like watching them. I have no favorites cause I watch a movie for how the movie makes me feel. If I need a feel good movie I may watch Rudy or to get pumped up why not the classic Top Gun!

Carlene:  Aw, Top Gun!  We knew you belonged here in the pond with us!  But now let’s talk about what scares you and then what is something that might scare others but you feel pretty confident dealing with?

Marcus:  Fear creeps in to every firefighter just not the same fear for each. Some do fear fire (yes…we don’t want to get burned either). Some are scared of dogs that are on scene. My fear so far isn’t anything specific to the job. I can handle the fire, the dogs, and the gun shots that go off while on calls in bad neighborhoods.  I’m ok with the car wrecks that people die in for I know I did all I could to help.  My fear is kissing my wife and boy goodbye in the morning and unable to kiss them hello the next morning.

Carlene:  Thank you for sharing that with us, Marcus.  Very touching.  Now let’s get into fireman fashion.  Is wearing a suit and tie something you look forward to or does it give you the heebie geebies?

Marcus:  People wonder why the fire fighters wear uniforms when we have to put our bunker clothes on half the time. We are proud to be who we are and want to present
ourselves as how we see ourselves. That being said, if the fire department wanted to dress as a used car salesman (no offense if one is reading…you guys do where your ties quite nice) I’m sure we might have to mutiny!

Carlene:  We know a thing or two about mutiny which is why we haven’t invited any of those pesky old pirates to Guy Day.  Now tell us, how much does your gear weigh or better yet, “Wearing my fireman’s gear is like wearing a (blank) on your back”.  (elephant, refrigerator, full grown German Shepard?)

Marcus:  Next time there is an emergency and you see a fire fighter running around in his full bunker gear, with scba on his back, and a tool in his hand and he doesn’t stop and answer your question about what is going on, then here is where I tell you why. No, we are not pricks on scene. Nope we don’t have permission to answer questions in most cases. Once again, no we are not deaf because of the sirens. Answer time! Imagine that a ten year old wants a piggy back ride for two house lengths. Once you get there you realize that the 10 year old forgot his shoes so you run back with him still on your back. There are the shoes, YAYYYY, but while we’re here let’s carry the basketball that he wants and don’t forget the rollerblades he wants later. So off you go two houses down. Woohoo…made it. Now it’s time to rollerblade while playing basketball all while piggy backing a ten year old. That, my friends, is how a fire fighter feels with all his gear on keeping in mind after all the running around getting tools, hoses, and equipment in place he still has a fire to put out or a car to cut open. We don’t answer cause we probably don’t have the ability to!

Carlene:  Okay, last one.  Out of these actual romance titles involving a firefighter, please give me your reaction: (example, “made me laugh”, “had me worried”, “I might actually read that”, etc.)

Marcus: Smokin’ Hot Nights – “Has someone been reading my diary?”

Too Hot to Handle – “Going to be a hit when made into Cinemax late night series!”

Firefighter Under the Mistletoe – “I’d buy it as a stocking stuffer for the wife.”

Carlene:  Oh my goodness, loved these!  Marcus, you are truly one brave man and the Mermaids and our readers appreciate all you do.  Thanks for swimming with us today and sharing your perspective.  Show of hands and fins, who wants to dive into a firefighter romance novel right now or better yet, Write One?  Fishy Kisses everyone!