Real Heros, No Money: A Review of Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat

Promotional image of Odd Hours No Pay Cool Hat.

Did you know that if you live outside of a major city, the odds are that if you call 911 for a fire, car accident, medical emergency or some other rescue need that the people who come to your aid may not being paid for doing so? As of 2020, 65% percent of all firefighters in the U.S. are volunteer according to the NFPA, which was a 6% drop from the previous year. So while their numbers are dwindling, the need for them still exists.

If you haven’t read it already, I’d read this piece about volunteer firefighters by Andrew Donaldson from a few weeks ago as well.

To help show people what this is all about, a new documentary has been released. Called Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat, this documentary follows several volunteers in various places around the country to get their opinion on serving their community, and what goes into doing so. Inspired by an original story by Peter Yoakum and funded by John Deere and the National Volunteer Fire Council, the documentary starts in Santa Rosa, CA, as Jenna Dunbar recounts her escape from the Tubbs Fire of 2017. From there it moves on to Exeter, Nebraska, to Wheaton, Maryland, to the Washington State Fire Training Academy to even Monsey, New York.

You’ll see ordinary Americans, who have odd day jobs like part-time bus driver because their town is so small, to a teenage immigrant from El Salvador to an ultra-orthodox Jew named Yitzy. Yitzy’s story hits home more than you think it would, because normally people who can’t shave their beards for religious purposes can’t be an interior structure firefighter as the SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) has to have a tight seal around your face. But because of Yitzy’s desire to serve the community of Monsey, NY – the documentary follows the fire department as they change their rules to allow for firefighters to serve without having to go into burning buildings – as there are plenty of other ways to help, such as pulling hose line outside and putting out wildfires. The whole beard story comes fully around as another volunteer in a different location gets his beard shaved so he can become a structural firefighter. Through his perseverance, Yitzy was able to serve.

As a result, the largest message the film sends is what community means. While it might be nice to live in a bubble and not have to deal with community around you, you can’t do everything by yourself. You can’t put out a fire by yourself. You can’t deal with a medical emergency by yourself in most cases. You will need help. And volunteer firefighters/EMTs are the ones that answer the call in the vast majority of the United States. They give up their time (and in some cases their lives) for various reasons, but all for their sense of being part of the community they live in. As a former volunteer firefighter/paramedic myself, it really goes to show you that there is nothing else like the heart of a volunteer. I’d urge you to give viewing the documentary a shot.

Like the title says, those volunteers work odd hours. For no pay. But they get a cool hat.

Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat is available to purchase or rent from various video platforms