KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Rural Metro Fire Station 36 held a special dinner on Christmas evening. They have been preparing for it for the last few weeks, giving people their tasks to make sure the meal was perfect.
"Shopping lists, assignments, who's bringing what, who's gonna do the shopping, that kind of stuff. So, a lot of preparation went into it ahead of time," said Jeremy Rood, the Battalion Chief.
Rood has been working with Rural Metro since 1988. He's spent many Christmases on the clock.
"Whenever you sign up to work shifts for a living, you realize that there will be not just Christmas but birthdays and anniversaries and other holidays that you're going to miss," Rood said.
But, that makes the friendships within the station feel more like family than co-workers.
"It's not much different than your family at home. You know, everybody doesn't always get along and agree on everything, as no family does. But at the same time, we're a tight-knit group of folks that when it's time to do our job, that's why we're here," Rood said.
Jeremy Vaughn is newer to the team. He's been working with Rural Metro for 2 years.
"I'm the youngest person at this station on this shift. So if they're not acting like my parents, they are like my big brother's picking on me," Vaughn said. "It's it's just like being at home."
Although they all had to be present at the station, not one of the firefighters seemed upset about it. Every single person had a smile on their face.
Rood said his team, the "Red Shift" is passionate. They signed up for the job and they know this is part of it.
"Some folks take the holidays off. I just work them whenever they come around," Rood said. "So, we have a family at home, then we have a family here."