Firefighting a family affair

Andrew Crooks has been around firefighting equipment all his life.

The son of a Burlington fireman, climbing on fire trucks and wearing fireman's helmets kind of came with the territory.

"I always enjoyed coming down and visiting my dad when he was on-shift," Crooks said.

The trucks, he confessed, actually were the bigger draw.

"I've been preparing for this job since I was 14 years old." Andrew Crooks, Burlington paramedic and firefighter

Not exactly on the tour, though, was sliding down the fireman's pole. Getting to do that meant growing up and joining the Burlington Fire Department. Hired in June as a firefighter and paramedic, Crooks now helps to lead tours at the Central Fire House on Valley Street -- tours that still do not include a slide down the pole.

Using the pole himself wasn't Crooks' first order of business after getting the job.

But finally, just a few days ago, he got his chance, as he was rushing off on an ambulance call, and another member of the crew slid down it ahead of him.

"I said, 'Ah, what the heck. It's better than running down the steps,' " the 20-year-old Crooks said.

Career ideas

Despite his exposure to the work and the tools growing up as the son of Burlington Fire Marshal Mark Crooks, that slide down the pole as a full-time firefighter wasn't pre-destined. For a while, landscaping and construction seemed like the direction he would go.

The spark that led to a career was set at 15, not by his father but rather by friends who joined the department's Explorer Post. Unlike a kid visiting his dad at the firehouse, members of Post 45 got to go along on actual ambulance calls. A twinge of jealousy led him to join.

For Mark Crooks, that was a pretty proud moment. Though he long has been active in Boy Scouts and athletics with his sons, it was nice to have something that could help Andrew relate to what his father did for a living.

But before he and wife, Jody, an emergency room nurse and volunteer EMT, would sign off, there was a lot of talking, too. Both knew the hazards -- physical and emotional -- of the profession, and wanted to make sure their oldest son knew them as well.

Just a few months into the experience, Andrew rolled with the ambulance to the scene of a grisley motor vehicle accident. There was a fatality, and the scene was such the battalion chief called his parents to let them know what their son had just witnessed.

The experience did not scare the younger Crooks away from his new path.

"And you never have turned back, have you?" Mark Crooks said to eldest of his three sons as the two sat together Wednesday in a conference room at the downtown Burlington fire station.

Andrew Crooks completed emergency medical technician training at Southeastern Community College while he still was a senior at West Burlington High School. At 18, he joined the West Burlington Fire Department as a volunteer. Thorougly hooked, he took paramedic training at SCC, has passed his national certification tests and in June was hired by the Burlington department.

The biggest change from his Explorer days were sleeping at the station, increased responsibilities on the ambulance and the ability to go into fires with Burlington crews.

Volunteer beginnings

Like his son, the volunteer fire department in West Burlington was Mark Crooks' introduction to the firefighting profession, too.

Some of his friends were on it, and he knew the chief from school. Starting as a member of the junior firefighter programs, he joined the department at 18.

"I fell in love with it," Mark Crooks said. "I really liked the rewarding feeling it gave me to go out and help people."

In 1988, he was hired as an EMT and paramedic, and served in that capacity for a dozen years before being promoted to captain. Then, with the retirement of Mike Hartman in 2005, Crooks was elevated to fire marshal.

That role means the elder Crooks no longer is one of the first in at a fire scene. The fact is, he's typically last. On occasion, the perspective of spectator allows him to experience the pride of seeing his son at work but also feel the trepidation of knowing things can go wrong in a heartbeat.

It is the unknowns that makes the father nervous at times. Aside from what cannot be controlled, knowing the training he has had and the type of person he is, Mark Crooks is confident in his son's ability to keep himself safe and get the job done.

"He's good at what he does," Mark Crooks said, adding: "He's got a real passion for the job. It reminds me of the passion I had for the job when I first started, too."

Fathers and sons

Mark and Andrew Crooks are the third father/son duo in the modern memory of the Burlington Fire Department, and the second to be on the department together.

Fire Capt. Jeff Werner joined when his father, Larry Werner, still was on the department. Capt. Scott Hoschek was hired soon after his father, Steve Hoschek, retired.

Before he got hired at the department, Andrew Crooks said he was prepared for comments about getting the job because of who his father is.

He hears it a little bit or feels the vibe from it sometimes, but he brushes it off.

"I've been preparing for this job since I was 14 years old," he said.

No one passed the physical and knowledge tests for him, Andrew Crooks said. Meanwhile, Mark Crooks pointed out he doesn't supervise anyone in the department and wasn't part of the hiring process.

"It wasn't because of my dad," Andrew Crooks said. "It was because of my qualifications."

Experience in Post 45 and being around the firehouse in that capacity, more than childhood visits, helped him quickly become one of the guys. And when his fellow firefighters and paramedics razz the new guy about his dad, it has nothing to do with his hiring.

Mark Crooks hears things, too.

"Everybody always tells me good things about him," he said, "and that makes me proud."

"I try to live up to that standard," Andrew Crooks replied.

The fact, though, is the two don't see much of each other at work, and can go whole shifts without crossing paths.

"He's got his job, and I have mine," Mark Crooks said.

It is at home in West Burlington where they see each other most often. Andrew Crooks still lives in the house where he grew up and is saving to get a place of his own, apart from his parents and two younger brothers, high-schoolers Nathan, 17, and Daniel, 14.

Neither brother seems headed for a career on the fire department. Nathan, a senior at West Burlington High School, may pursue a criminal justice career, Mark Crooks said. Daniel, a freshman, has expressed an interest in architecture.

But firefighting is Andrew Crooks' life. When he isn't on duty with the Burlington Fire Department, he remains a volunteer on the West Burlington Department. In January, he was named firefighter of the year for 2013 in West Burlington, and he has been elected president of the West Burlington Firefighters Association.

Away from the firehouse, he also keeps his hands busy, and the construction work he once considered as a career now is something he describes as a hobby.

As time allows, the Eagle Scout likes to stay involved with Troop 214, where his father is Scoutmaster and his brothers are Scouts.

Father and son also both are part-time bus drivers for the West Burlington School District, mostly making evening runs to carry teams from the high school to out-of-town games.

Career ladders

Though still a rookie firefighter, Andrew Crooks figures he has gone as far in his father's footsteps as he ever will. Getting hands-on with ambulance calls and fires is what makes the job fun. Helping little old ladies up off the floor or getting a heart beating again in the ambulance makes him feel good about what he does.

So being an officer, or chief, just aren't on his radar.

"Where I'm at right now," he said, "is where I see myself in 30 years when I retire."

Mark Crooks couldn't help but smile at that.

"I had those same thoughts, too," he said. "As you progress through your career, things change. I never dreamed I'd ever be fire marshal."

In that job, instead of fighting fires, investigating the causes of fires and working in the community on fire prevention allows him, he said, to help put out blazes "before they happen."

And that's plenty rewarding in its own right.

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