by Kristin Martin
You won’t find many 24-year-olds with as much responsibility on their shoulders as Del Sherburne.
The Pensacola Junior College pre-engineering student must balance his school work, a landscaping business and his job as a volunteer firefighter for the Ferry Pass Volunteer Fire Department, which serves District 7 in Pensacola.
He’s driven by a passion for public service and an awareness that a good education can help him escape the poverty he experienced growing up in Hesperia, Calif. Making a difference in the world is engrained in a young man whose parents are missionaries and whose brother was seriously hurt in war while serving his nation in the military.
Sherburne moved here in 2003. Though he is thousands of miles away from home, he said he draws strength through his faith in God.
On a typical Monday, Sherburne wakes up around 6 a.m., works out at the gym until 8 a.m., studies for a couple of hours, then works as a landscaper until about 7 p.m. After that, he’s off to the firehouse until close to midnight.
Most nights, depending on who is at the station or how many calls are received, he will even sleep there. Or attempts to sleep. Sherburne, along with other volunteer firefighters, is sometimes awakened in the night by loud alarms signaling someone is in danger. Jolted from sleep, the firefighters must quickly become alert, don their uniforms and jump into their fire truck to respond to the call.
Sometimes there are “back-to-back calls all night,” he said.
Sherburne often does homework and studies at the fire station.
He also owns his own landscaping and handyman business. That enterprise began, not surprisingly, after he helped elderly neighbors remove fallen trees from their property following Hurricane Ivan in 2004. He didn’t expect money for the work he did for several weeks, but his neighbors insisted on paying him. As a result, he went into business for himself to pay his tuition and living expenses.
Despite the demands on his time, he still manages to make good grades.
Striking a balance is the biggest challenge, he said, adding, “Quite often, I don’t get a lot of sleep.”
Firefighting comes first, even if that means studying late into the night in preparation for a test.
He’s even gotten in trouble with his teachers when his fire department radio has gone off in the classroom. He’s learned that setting his radio on vibrate will help avoid that situation, but still may bolt from the classroom if he receives a call to a major emergency.
However, “generally speaking, my school does take precedence,” he said.
To become a certified volunteer firefighter, who can do the same things as a career firefighter, Sherburne had to go through 200 hours of training. He learned how to handle heavy equipment like water hoses and how to put on his fire gear within 45 seconds. He also had to learn about different types of building structures and codes. He recently received training to become a certified fire truck driver.
“Del is eager to learn,” said Joe McKnight, 20, who works with Sherburne at the fire department.
Sherburne has been a volunteer firefighter for a year. Since then, he’s assisted in extinguishing three car fires and been on the scene of several burning structures. He has responded to more than 460 calls this year, a lot for most volunteers. Those calls can range from car accidents to rescuing cats from trees.
The most unusual call he has responded to was when a man ran over a woman, backed up to run over her again, then hit a gas pump.
His saddest call: when a young girl lost control of her vehicle when she was speeding. Emergency personnel had to cut her out of the car, and the last Sherburne heard she’s still in a coma.
Despite everything he’s seen as a firefighter, Sherburne has not become numb to human suffering. An injured child, for instance, makes him very upset although he fights back his emotions to do his job.
Yet no matter how a call turns out, Sherburne feels fulfilled by the job he did.
“On the scene, you’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, what if I mess up? What if I do this?’ But then afterwards, you always feel good,” he said. “The fact is, you got on the truck and you responded. You did more than you would have done if you just stayed at home.”
Firefighting has taught Sherburne that a person can do anything he or she desires, and there is always an opportunity to learn more, he said. He would recommend volunteer firefighting to any student because nothing compares to adrenaline rush and the feeling of helping someone.