Black smoke comes from all areas. There is that stench of burning siding, burning wood, the smell of smoke is filling the air. The sound of yelling, the sirens of the firetrucks are screaming. This is what Mason Pinckney, a volunteer firefighter experiences all the time.  

Pinckney was introduced to firefighting by his family. “I was approached by my cousin who actually suggested that my dad and I should start volunteering,” said Pinckney. To become registered, you had to go through a couple classes. These classes are firefighter 1 and 2. Firefighter 1 is more the basics of a fire, simple things like what to do. While Firefighter 2 is more like the commands, and the specialized areas of the fire. Pinckney would go to other fire districts to do these training sessions, they would last about 10 hours each. 

Pinckney has been a volunteer for about a year now. During this year Pinckney has attended four calls in the past year, including a trailer court fire, and a house fire.

Pinckney volunteers at the Martel Fire Station. Although Pinckney can’t actually go into the fires he can still do a lot on the outside  “such as helping out with the hoses, or carrying around a saw in case they need to cut holes in walls, or get trees out of the way,” he said.

Pinckney plans on staying on the force once he turns 18, when he can actually go into the fires as an adult. “I’ll probably just stay as a volunteer though, not becoming a full fire fighter,” added Pinckney.

“One of the coolest things about this is that I actually get to leave school early if there happens to be a fire,” said Pinckney. If Pinckney’s pager goes off he can leave at any time, where he will go straight to the fire station. From there Pinckney will get on the fire truck and head to the fire.

Pinckney doesn’t just volunteer though he is very involved with the fire station as a whole. Pinckney also enjoys the training that comes with it. The training nights are every other Sunday. “We either will go over the gear, or the trucks, and even can meet with other fire stations around our area,” said Pinckney. Pinckney, and his team, along with the other fire stations, will sometimes go to old abandoned houses, light them on fire and train like it’s an actual fire. Pinckney can actually go into these house fires as long as he has an adult. 

Pinckney does a lot of other extracurriculars, playing football, and wrestling. But Pinckney has the coolest after school plans, that being volunteering at the Marttel Fire Station, where there will be more firefighting in his future.