For this episode, we talk with “backstep” Firefighter Austin Kohler, who is only a few years into his career in the fire service. We ask him what he enjoys about the job, and what he didn’t expect about it. And about halfway through, we give Austin the upper-hand and let him ask us questions like:

How do you perfect your craft in a position without the upper echelon thinking you’re a “turd” for not wanting to move up?
Who was the best Driver Operator you ever worked with? And what’s the difference between a good Driver and a great Driver?
How much talking on the radio is too much?
How do you motivate older firefighters with a bad case of “Don’t-give-a-damns”?
What is Blue Card? (from a previous episode)