A LEGACY OF SERVICE

Written and Photographed by Candice Temple

As a parent, you never know how your profession will influence your child but research has given some indicators. The General Social Survey in 2020 revealed that it is very common for children to follow in their parent’s footsteps when it comes to the selection of a profession, especially when it’s a trade. Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue (P.B.G.F.R.) has several examples in its department of parents, children and even spouses who share career choices.

One example is Saen and Jared Olsen. Jared recalls that his earliest memories of a fire station are from around age six when he remembers his dad Saen taking him to a Palm Beach Gardens fire station. Being immersed in public safety was something he never forget.

“I think just him bringing me to the station really attracted me to the job. I remember the professionalism and the green trucks really spiked my interest”, he says with a chuckle. “I don’t know, I just kind of fell in love with it.”

Now retired, his father Saen started his career in the fire service as a volunteer firefighter with Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue in 1976 when he was only fifteen years old. He went on to become one of the first paid shift personnel to work for the department. After thirty-three years of service, he called it quits in 2014.

Although he retired ten years ago, those early trips of taking Jared to the fire station made a lasting impression. But Saen says he didn’t always know that his son would decide to put on the boots.

“I really didn’t think that far in the future for him. He’s always been an athletic person. He joined the military and was in the Army for four years. He’s a good kid”, Saen shares proudly.

The road eventually led Jared to the fire service and, since he settled on the profession, he has been focused on reaching his goal of working for Gardens and making his way through school to become a paramedic. After becoming an Emergency Medical Technician and completing the Fire Academy, he was hired by Palm Beach Gardens where he had to endure an additional twelve weeks of intense training in the Recruit Academy. Gardens requires its recruits to pass rigorous physical qualifications in addition to learning the department’s high-level medical standards for the treatment of patients, which involves less textbooks and more hands-on experience.

Recruits stay on probation for a year before they participate in the department’s “Orange to Black” ceremony. The ceremony gets its name from the orange badge that recruits wear on their helmet for the first year on the job. Once they complete the probationary period, their badge is changed to black.

Another son following in his father’s footsteps with P.B.G.F.R. is Gabriel Mauri who has worked with the department for just over a year. His father Ernesto has spent twenty-two-years with the City of Palm Beach Gardens and was inspired to pursue his career route by his sister who works as a registered nurse. After initially going to school to become a nurse himself, Ernesto changed to Paramedic school, worked for a private ambulance company and at JFK Hospital emergency room in Atlantis. There he crossed paths with several people who were also employed with P.B.G.F.R.

“Training was tough at the time. It was a challenging and, now I can say, rewarding career” Ernesto says. “This line of work is definitely not for everyone. You have to be a well-rounded individual with physical and mental toughness in order to be proficient and succeed in this career.”

Seeing a person during what may be the worst day of their life and being able to help takes more than just training. In fact, Ernesto shares that of his three children, only one is built to endure the kind of work that the fire service brings.

He started bringing Gabriel to the station as a baby and throughout the years growing up. It seems he was correct. Gabriel recalls that he has been long drawn to the profession. Once he went to school, he devoted a year and six months of his life to becoming a firefighter.

“Like most young children, the idea of becoming a doctor was what I wanted to do. I didn’t realize how medically involved the fire service was until I was a sophomore in high school”, he recalls. “I became curious and started to ask my dad more questions. I eventually joined the Explorer program for Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue. I did some ride-alongs at the station and knew immediately that I wanted to make a career out of the job.”

One thing is evident when speaking to those who have a family legacy of dedication to the fire service, they love their job and they are proud when another generation chooses to follow suit. The family connection may draw criticism from those who think it creates an unfair advantage, however most can tell you that the standards are so rigorous that success is an individual achievement.

“I do not feel that I had an advantage with my father working for Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue”, Gabriel says. “If anything, I had a slight disadvantage. I had big shoes to fill.”