DURHAM, N.C. — What does it take to become a firefighter? For Shawn Walls, a fire captain with the City of Durham, it takes passion, skill and the willingness to serve the community. 

What You Need To Know

  • Applications for the City of Durham Fire Department close on April 30 
  • Shawn Walls is a fire captain with Station 4, Engine 4 in Durham 
  • The city approved 14.3% pay raises for fire recruits in January

"Definitely willing to serve, that's the number one thing," Walls said. 

Walls joined the fire service 14 years ago, but becoming a firefighter wasn't in the N.C. Central University graduate's original plans. 

"I had a friend whose dad was a captain when I was in school. Before that, I was teaching elementary school actually, I never had experience, never thought about doing that until my friend's dad was doing it and he gave me the gist of the job. I've been doing it for 14 years and there probably ain't nothing else I rather be doing right now anyways, so I ain't going no where," Walls said. 

In January, the City of Durham approved a 14.3% increase in pay for fire recruits, bumping the pay for entry-level firefighters from $35,592 to $40,682 annually, with respective raises for higher ranking employees. 

"You still have to have a passion for the job, you have to have passion to actually do it regardless of the pay. Durham is Durham, you're going to get a lot out of Durham for the fire service. If you're looking for the money then there is other places to go, but if you're looking to fight fire and have fun, what I call it, Durham is the place to be," Walls said.

Firefighters become eligible for a promotion after their fifth year. They then have the opportunity to become a driver and climb the ladder from there. 

In his role as a captain, Walls is responsible for giving direction on calls in order to keep his firefighters safe and successfully complete the call they are responding to. 

"This is what the captain does before we get on scene, we do pre-fire investigations of the building or buildings in your surrounding district prior to even getting there. We have to have a game plan before we arrive. Once we get there, we size up the building, do a 360 of the building to make sure we have all eyes on the building, then using your judgment and your training to go inside to fight fire," Walls said. 

In the fire academy, Walls says recruits will learn how to pull a line and how to fight fire, but it's not just about running inside a building and putting out the flame. 

"You have to have tactics. Even though you have the captain, it's up to you to also be willing to train and just be of service to everybody," Walls said. 

Walls also emphasized the importance of being quick. 

"Once the tones go off, we want to be out in 90 seconds. The faster the better. We work on putting our gear on as fast as possible, we want to be in the truck, buckled up and ready to go in 90 seconds," Walls explained. 

The department operates on three shifts. They work 24 hours every other day for 10 days and then have six days off. While they're on shift, they stay at the station. Walls says they cook meals together, workout, clean and train while they're waiting for calls to come in. 

"When it comes down to it, you got your family that's home but when you come here, you're also a family so you got to look out for each other and make sure everybody is getting better every day," Walls said. 

In his 14 years in the fire service, Walls says he has not experienced a line of duty death. He doesn't have any fears but there is one call he hopes to never hear. 

"'We have a mayday.' You definitely don't want to hear a mayday call, that means one of us is inside trapped or tangled up or lost. With a mayday call we have a team that goes in and finds the firefighters. That's one thing you don't want to hear, but that's one thing you have to train on and be prepared for. Never responded to a mayday call and hopefully we never have to," Walls said. 

Applications for the City of Durham Fire Department close April 30.