The Burning Desire

When tasked with coming up with a semester-long photography project, I took the opportunity to shed light on New Orleans Fire Department. I've heard people say many times that all firefighters do during the day is sleep. I wanted to create this project to show that this statement couldn't be further from the truth. I have been around the firehouse my whole life. My dad, Captain Ronnie Beaulieu, has been on the NOFD for almost 38 years now, and my brother, Firefighter Dakota Beaulieu, has been on for 6 years. This department has become a second family to me so I couldn't think of a better subject for my project. For those who may not know, the NOFD has many duties including responding to fires, false alarms, medical calls, rings stuck on fingers, washing the fire engine, going to training, talking and helping out tourists, doing float checks and flambeau checks during Mardi Gras, pump air into a tire, and the list could go on for pages. I believe it takes a special person to become a firefighter because they are putting their lives on the line for people they have never met because they just want to help their community. This project is meant to give firefighters the recognition they deserve and to hopefully educate people on what the true job of a firefighter is, and although this project is for a college class I plan to continue it further.