Fire Chasers - Transform Your Life
Fire Chasers - Transform Your Life
This is the story of a woman who decided to turn her life around after getting in an accident and the the purpose she found from extinguishing fires.
Transcript:
Speaker 1: I just smashed right into her. And I was definitely drinking and driving. I was working 60 or more hours a week, and I would drink. My relationship was strained, just because I had been drinking and working over-excessively. There was a point where I was drinking and driving and he said, "Just stop, you're gonna hurt somebody. Just stop." And he was right, because I, ultimately, I did end up hurting somebody.
I thought I would never go to prison, and when I came to prison I thought it was the end of my life, the end of the world. I was hoping to go to an alcohol treatment program because of why I'm here. But the need for bodies in fire camp was higher, so I was like, "Okay, I have to pay my dues."
Speaker 2: These women in oranges that are fighting fire are side by side with firefighters throughout the state. You're here to save lives, you're here to save property, most importantly you're here to change the way you are. Whether you wanna be a firefighter when you parole, or you just wanna be a better person, this is the program.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's something that I'm ready for, but I'm willing. I don't wanna ever repeat this lesson. And that's, I think, would be more of a fear to me because I don't wanna come back. Good people do things that they don't wanna do.
Speaker 2: This is where you go deep down inside and say, "You know what? This is what I want. I want to change my life." Take the bull by the horns, put your mind to it, push. There's nothing in life easy.
Speaker 1: It's not easy work. It's very hard work, but I pushed with all my heart and all my might. I wanted to fight something within myself to make sure that I wanted to be the top one, and to just carry myself in a manner hopefully to inspire other people and learn as much as I can and try to be the best I could be.
It reminded me of the work ethic that I do have. The irony of it is that I almost took a person's life and now being here at fire camp, I'm in charge of protecting at least 14 people's lives and myself. Look how strong you can be if you can do that one thing and now I definitely think I've grown as a person.
To say that I'm a firefighter, it means a lot. If I have this position, I wanna be able to hold it, and hold it steadily. Because, ultimately, it'll just make me stronger. And when I go home I'm definitely sure I will live my life in a different manner.
