Firefighter's Drive to Save Lives Started at Young Age

Firefighter Lawrence Carter has spent the last two-and-a-half years at Station 20 in New Tampa. He transferred from Station 21, also in New Tampa, and, prior to that, served at Station 8 near Tampa International Airport. He has more than 22 years of service in the state of Florida.

Carter grew up near Fort Pierce in the West Palm Beach area. He attended Fort Pierce High School and was hired to the Fort Pierce Fire Department in St. Lucie County in 1988. He remembers watching reruns of "Emergency!" (with Squad 51) as a kid and remembers wanting to be a firefighter from a very young age.

Once his good friend Jerome became a firefighter, Carter jumped on board and has not looked back.

Patch: Describe your most harrowing experience on the job.

Carter: My very first call as a firefighter was an actual working fire. There's all the nervousness of going out on your first call, then I look at the address and it is literally two houses down from my mom's house.

Patch: What was your most rewarding experience on the job?

Carter: We hold a Burn Camp every year along with the nurses at TGH. Every summer we take kids from the burn ward and take them on a week full of activities. We go to Busch Gardens, to Sea World. We have maybe 35-37 kids, we house them at USF and the nurses and us work as camp counselors.

Patch: What do you do to decompress after a long shift?

Carter: Work out. Cardio, lifting, kind of a combo.

Patch: What do you enjoy about working in New Tampa?

Carter: The positive feedback. We actually get that out here; you are appreciated more.

Patch: If you weren't working as a firefighter, what do you think you would be doing?

Carter: I'd be in some field of public service, maybe police department.