James Smith Sr. stood yesterday in a West Baltimore firehouse where his son would be if he wasn't at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Burn Unit with scorched skin and a tracheal tube running from his throat.
"He'll be back fighting fires again," said Smith, a firefighter who retired eight years ago. "It's in his blood - it's part of his life."
James Smith Jr., 32, and seven other city firefighters were injured Tuesday on North Broadway when two floors of a burning building collapsed while they were inside. Smith, who sustained the worst injuries, was trapped under smoldering debris for 30 minutes.
Getting hurt is as much a part of the job as spending sleepless nights on the station's uncomfortable beds or taking cold, communal showers in the bare-bones living quarters.
It's not something they talk about much.
"It's a dangerous, exhilarating job," said Capt. Michael Campbell, who works out of the same station, Engine 13, as Smith. "It takes a different kind of person to do this. The stress level is unbelievable. The divorce rate is unbelievable."
Smith's father, his firefighter uncle and his buddies at the firehouse at 405 McMechen St. had no doubt yesterday that Smith would be back - like other fighters injured on the job - running into flaming buildings when necessary.
If he were the type of person who shied away from danger, they said, he wouldn't be working at one of the busiest firehouses in the city, where he goes out on about 10 calls a shift in the winter. "When you go up to a fire, ignorance is bliss," the elder Smith said. "Lots of times you walk away with bruises. Sometimes, something worse happens."
Last fiscal year, the firehouse - which includes a truck, an engine and an ambulance - responded to about 14,500 calls.
Firefighters go out for everything from fires and flooding to gas leaks and medical calls. But what keeps them going, they said, is dousing flames and saving lives.
"I keep pictures of my wife and kids up so I remember why I'm here," said firefighter Bernie Muller, 43. "The worst part about this job is when kids are involved. Its hard because you can't show emotion until you go home."
The salary wont make them rich: Starting pay is $21,000 a year.
The hours are grueling: four days on, four days off. And there are few perks: Firefighters sleep in their clothes and pay for their own phone line so they can make personal calls from the station.
