From left to right: Glenn with daughter Juliët, Sam with son Milan, Frederik with daughter Ona, Sam with daughter Lorèn, Jef with daughter Rosa, Nick with son Jack, Kevin & Kim with son Noah and Bjorn with daughter Romy. — © RR
chapels –
There has been a real baby boom at the Kapellen fire station. In less than a year, nine volunteers became parents (again). “Our volunteers are often away from home. But when they are at home, our men and women are not bored,” said a Facebook post with a photo of the gang.
“Kapellen Fire Station is one of the busiest stations within the Rand Fire Department Zone,” it says on the fire station’s Facebook page. “This means that our volunteers are often away from home. But when they are at home, our men and women are not bored. As many as eight fire brigade babies were born in 2023 and 2024.”
Nick (fourth from the right, ed.) was the first in a long line to become a dad. His son Jack will be one year old in April. “Four of the eight volunteers in the photo, including myself, are in team 1,” says Nick. There are four teams in Kapellen. “So the baby boom was extra clear for us.”
“Behind every man in the photo is a strong woman. They are already used to us being away sometimes at night.”
Nick
firefighter, Kapellen
Fortunately, the operation of the Kapellen fire station does not suffer from the extra night work. “We are all volunteers, so we volunteer whenever we have free time. That is not necessarily less than before. Behind every man in the photo is a strong woman. They are already used to us being away sometimes at night,” he said. In the past year, Nick also became a godfather in addition to being a dad. His cousin Kevin and his wife Kim are also volunteers at the Kapellen fire station. They had their first child together, Noah, five months ago. “It has sometimes been joked that we have good seeds in the family,” laughs Nick.
Tears
Kim must miss the excitement of firefighter life for a while. As soon as she knew she was pregnant, she was no longer allowed to be called up. “I must admit that I have sometimes shed a tear when I heard my team leaving. The hormones, huh.” They live close to the fire station, as volunteers have to be ready within five minutes when called.
“We chose not to be in a team together,” says Kim, who will soon complete her training from trainee to fire brigade. “But when multiple teams were called, we sometimes intervened together.” Such as when a large drug lab burned down in Heidestraat in 2021. “That won’t be possible anymore. Sometimes one of us starts swearing,” she laughs. “A crèche in the barracks wouldn’t be a bad idea. It’s been suggested before, I think. But in practice it turned out to be difficult to achieve.”
2024-03-12 08:20:06
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