First Responder: Firefighter/Driver Allen Rice

Name: Allen Rice

Age: 47

Hometown: Walnut Grove, Walton County

Rank/Title: Driver (Snellville Fire Station, No. 12)

How long with the Gwinnett Fire and Emergency Services?

Rice has been with the department for more than 29 years.

What inspired you to become a firefighter?

"I needed a job. I know it sounds kind of stupid, but in '82," he said. "Well, actually, some of my friends -- I'm from Snellville, I grew up here -- some of the guys I went to school with they, you know, I talked to them."

"At the time I was going to DeKalb, Perimeter College," Rice said, adding that he "really didn't know" what he wanted to do.

"When they started talking to me about that (being a firefighter), I didn't really have any desires, and that sound(ed) like a pretty cool job," Rice said.

Are there any other members of your family who are firefighters?

"No."

What were your family's thoughts when you decided to make this a career choice?

"They thought, well, that sounds like a pretty good job."

What's the biggest change since the time you joined the department?

"Of course, it's changed a whole lot since when I first started and these guys coming on now. When I first came on, we rode on the back of the truck, had to hold on. Now, you ride inside, there's air conditioning. We didn't even have air conditioning in the trucks then. It's a big change. Them guys, they just don't know. I tell 'em all the time, they don't how lucky they got it. When you riding on the back, it's snowing, it's zero degrees, raining, a hundred degrees outside, I mean, that's big."

What's one of your memorable moments?

"Wow, you really making me think now. I guess, probably going to EMT school, becoming an EMT, and then becoming a driver."

How do you balance work and life?

"It's something you get used to doing. over so many years, it becomes a routine, you know. Some people can deal with it better than others, you know. It came pretty easy, as far as I'm concerned."

What do you like about your job?

"I guess the biggest thing that I like is when people come by and say, 'Hey, we appreciate y'all coming out to help us,' and they bring us a cake or a pie, or gift certificates to the grocery store or something, 'cause they know we're here for 24 hours. We got to cook our own meals. You know, just their appreciation ... It's just our job, that's what we do, and they look at it as a big help. But, you know, that's just what we do. We go out and serve the community."

What don't you like about the job?

"It's stressful at times. When an alarm goes off, and you have kids trapped in a house, that's big time stress. Or, you go to a car wreck, and it might be somebody you know. And, they might be in there hurt or dead. That's the biggest thing I don't like about working here because of knowing so many people...My mom lives right around the corner. That's the worst part, that's the part I don't like. I don't mind going helping, even people I know. It's just, if you know them, and something bad happens."

What kind of advice would you give to a young person who wants to do this job?

"Have their priorities right, and be mentally mature."