Kolbey, 17, of Andrews, South Carolina, is just starting out as a fire fighter. He saves lives.

Kolbey says he became a fire fighter because watching his father as he grew up he always aspired to be like him.
“I want to be like my daddy,” he says.

He says he took a fire and EMS (emergency medical services) class and now he and his father are fire fighters together.
So since he‘s under 18, he is required to stay out of burning buildings. When he’s called for a fire, he just helps from the outside.
Once he was called to a house that was completely engulfed in flames. He shuttled in water and refilled the truck at the fire hydrant. He also helped the other fire fighters change their oxygen cylinders.

He says another responsibility is car wrecks.

“Our job is to get victims safely to an ambulance, but it’s difficult when its someone you know,” says Kolbey.

He says one night; two of his friends hit a pothole. Their truck flipped six times, and they were both ejected. All I thought about was helping them.

“You have to focus and move past the fact that they’re your friends,” he says.

“They were both ok, thought one had a concussion and the other had a fractured leg,” says Kolbey.

“Me and the other fire fighters practice inside buildings where they set controlled fires,” he says.

He says their goal is to rescue a 200-pound dummy. They use an ax to check the floor and ceiling for caving in.

“It was so dark and smoky you couldn’t see anything,” Kolbey says.

He says he wasn’t scared, he just got a rush.

He says it takes a lot to be a fire fighter. You must have strength, focus, and endurance.

“This is what I’m meant to do,” Kolbey says.