Fighting fires and saving lives is, of course, a serious venture, but Glenn McKenney, 56, says his experience has been mostly fun.

“The family atmosphere that the fire company has is like no other,” said Glenn. “Yes, we have disagreements amongst each other, but what family agrees on everything?”

Some members actually volunteer with their family members, too. Glenn was interested in firefighting at a young age, and his father was a Chief officer of Southampton Fire Company in his childhood.

“The education and skills that I learned through being a member of the fire company are priceless,” said Glenn. “Being the Chief of the company for 21 years, every incident we dealt with is like a puzzle, and we have to find all the missing pieces to complete the puzzle.”

The skills Glenn learned also helped when he made a career shift to a 911 dispatcher. Before COVID hit, Glenn owned his own business in the Point of Sale industry. When everything came to a halt with the shutdown, Glenn lost 95% of business overnight and knew he had to pivot. As a 911 dispatcher, Glenn is now on the other side of fire calls, collecting essential information to send to emergency personnel.

To learn more about volunteering, visit www.JoinSouthamptonFire.org.