Claire Engel has treated victims with multiple gunshot wounds, helped save a woman from an overdose and seen a fellow fire academy graduate lose his life in a fire. And at 26, she has been a firefighter emergency medical technician for only three years.
Engel, of North Park, still considers herself a rookie among the Chicago Fire Department's 4,500 uniformed firefighters and paramedics, and takes strides to prove herself one 24-hour shift at a time, she says. With 1_ years under her belt as part of Engine 18 on the Near West Side, she's starting to feel like family among her more seasoned peers, all of whom are men.
Now, with the premiere of NBC's "Chicago Fire"-a drama that aims to capture the lives of Chicago's firefighters inside and outside the firehouse-Engel sees her efforts to prove herself and earn the trust of the other firehouse members getting the small-screen treatment.
While some of the show injects a bit of Hollywood into their day-to-day routines, Engel and other Chicago firefighters say the calling to the job, the danger and even some of the drama are true to life.
"It's nice that we're getting the attention, but we're not asking for it," said Jim Sewnig, 40, of Mount Greenwood.
He's been a firefighter since age 19, and a member of the Chicago Fire Department for nine years. Firefighters are a humble bunch, he said, and the job is more of a calling than a choice. It means showing up at 7 a.m. for a shift that starts at 8 a.m. just to relieve the previous company finishing its 24-hour shift. There's the lack of sleep, the dreaded 3-5 a.m. "third watch" spent manning the dispatch radio and the checklist of firehouse chores to complete every shift. But there's also the anticipation of a fire, an opportunity he says every firefighter awaits to hone his or her skills.
"I don't wish it upon anybody, having someone lose their homes or be displaced," he said. "But fire provides practice. Any guy that's assigned to a good company will tell you they want to go to work, that's their craft."
With fewer years on the job, Engel said she also begins each shift hoping for a fire call. But while movies and TV make raging blazes and extra-alarm fires seem like everyday occurrences, her experience differs. Mostly, she finds herself responding to medical calls, sometimes to very familiar blocks and people. Still, each call brings a rush, something she finds herself seeking even outside the job.
"It's hard not to have that adrenaline. You crave it," she said, adding that she rides her motorcycle between shifts and takes trips to countries such as Costa Rica and South America for surfing thrills.
But there is downtime. Especially as a rookie, Engel said, volunteering for chores such as cleaning dishes is a way to show initiative between alarms. She said she's beginning to open up to the rest of the house, which feels like having a "bunch of older brothers." The atmosphere of trash talk and fighting, as depicted on "Chicago Fire," definitely exists, she said. There are even a fair amount of firefighters who will date one another, though it's rarely members of the same house.
"You spend so much time together," she said. "There's a lot of drama that happens, for that mere fact."
Though fires bring a chance to practice everything they've trained for, the danger is hard to ignore. It's something Brett Snow, 42, of Mount Greenwood, has learned to deal with after 12 years on the job.
"I think one thing that is a true reality we try to recognize and remember is that not every day is a promise," Snow said. "Especially with my job, there are no guarantees that I'll make it my whole shift and come home the next day."
The father of two said fire calls are particularly difficult when children are involved. Snow said it takes time to learn to suppress the emotions that come with difficult shifts.
"You really have to learn to deal with it," he said. "You have to learn to disassociate yourself with what's going on."
Despite learning to function with sleep deprivation, working a second job and being a father on his days off, Snow said there's no other job in the world for him. He's even had a chance to be a featured extra on "Chicago Fire" as it continues to film around the city.
"I'm certainly having fun with it," he said. "It's different when you're actually a firefighter and then play one on TV."
mswasko@tribune.com | @mickswasko