Fire-Rescue 59: My Mid-Life Crisis as a Volunteer Firefighter-EMT

Most firefighters join the fire service when they are young-their teens or early twenties. Alan Knoche was an exception in that he joined when he was in his late thirties. He had a lot of catching up to do, but with life experiences in the Navy, the submarine service, and working at a nuclear power facility behind him, he quickly progressed from rookie to assistant fire chief.

A top responder in a volunteer fire department that answered an average of two emergency calls a day, he fought fire...