By Brittney Bruner

With all that college student’s hold on their plates, fighting fires wouldn’t seem to fit amongst the other common collegiate activities. However, at the University of Louisville, volunteering at local fire departments isn’t completely unheard of.

At least that’s the case for freshman, business administration major Michael Priddy.

Priddy works as a volunteer firefighter.

The other volunteers are vastly in their late 20s and early 30s. Priddy’s age doesn’t seem to put him at a disadvantage with the job being so “mentally and physically demanding.”

It can’t hurt that while other kids were playing in the sandbox, Priddy was watching “Backdraft,” a drama starring Kurt Russell and Robert De Niro as Chicago firefighters, and accompanying his dad to the firehouse.

Now, Priddy must balance his school work with his volunteer work.

“It’s actually better because I work a shift where I go and spend 8-24 hours at the station and it usually gives me time and quiet away from school to study,” said Priddy.

Brent Wheeler, a U of L graduate and manufacturing engineer, is also a volunteer firefighter.

Wheeler started as a cadet when he was 14 and became a certified volunteer in 2002 at age 18.

Wheeler, while attending U of L, also had to balance his academic demands and work as a volunteer firefighter, and said that his favorite part about the job is the great feeling of satisfaction he gets when he knows he has saved a life, or someone’s house from a fire.

“It wasn’t really hard to balance the school work with firefighting because the fire fighting is volunteer so it was not always required of me to make the runs or training,” said Wheeler.

“At the fire department, they understand that school is the number one priority and it should come first.”

Wheeler said that although balancing the work load was not too tough to handle, it was tough.

Volunteer firefighting is not just happening at the smaller local departments.

“Volunteering for the Louisville Fire Department can be one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of your life,” said Wheeler.

“You will be driven to find strength and courage you may not think you have, and in turn you will be given the training and opportunity to make a direct and positive impact on people’s lives. You will get the chance to be somebody’s hero.”