r/Firefighting • u/found10mm • 10d ago

Photos My parents found my great grandfathers fire helmet in storage

Gallery image

Gallery image

He worked for the San Francisco fire department in the early 1900s, thought it was cool enough to share

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143

u/FloodedHoseBed career firefighter 10d ago

That’s so fucking cool. It makes me laugh how massive shields used to be. Do you have any info on his career

62

u/found10mm 10d ago

Only thing I see is a little paper with his initiation date that says 9/23/14 at the age of 33

12

u/Think_Rub2459 9d ago

Oh man I'm 30 and was thinking of becoming a firefighter i thought I was too old.

2

u/fish1552 FF/EMT who thankfully doesn't have to do medical 6d ago

The sooner you do it the easier it will be. Otherwise you might be trying to hit your 20 yr mark while your knees and back barely let you do the job. I used to laugh when I started around 34 at the guys saying it was hard, but being 54 now, I fully understand it. The job can be hard on the body and it only gets harder with age. Hopefully by the 20 yr mark you are an officer that doesn't have to do a lot of the backseat work and do more tactical stuff.