The Buffalo News
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Michael Carey, a volunteer firefighter in Orchard Park, thought he had a decent shot as a professional firefighter in North Carolina. Until the storm hit last week.
He responded to the fire call in Orchard Park at 1 a.m. Tuesday as the epic storm began here, and he has been on the job ever since, ferrying medicine by snowmobile, cleaning snow off furnace vents and checking on people stuck at home. He has been working on fours hours sleep a night.
But in the middle of all this, Carey was supposed to fly to Winston Salem, N.C., Wednesday to interview for a professional firefighting job. He never made it, because he was so busy helping here.
“My resources were needed more here in the town that’s given me all the training and all the work,” said Carey, 22.
But the fire chief there said they wouldn’t hold a place for Carey because he felt obliged to choose from people who could make it. The chief urged him to apply again for another class of trainees.
Getting this far with Winston Salem was an expensive investment. He already paid to fly down twice for a physical and an exam. The next opportunity there is probably a year away.
“I haven’t had enough time to myself for it to set in,” Carey said of his rejection. “My body’s pretty sore for being on the snow mobile for the last five days.”
Still, as a third generation volunteer firefighter, he has no regrets.
Next month, he’ll head to Baltimore to follow up on an application he put in there.
“I just keep going,” he said. “It’s not the first one that denied me. It’s probably not the last.”
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