Father, Son & Daughter Carry on Firefighting 'Family Tradition'

Father’s Day is a way to celebrate and remember not just people, but the traditions they’ve passed down from generation to generation.

For the Sims family, one important custom is volunteer firefighting.

“My father was a fireman and both my brothers were, too, so it's good to see the family tradition stay alive,” says Alexander Sims, Sr., a lieutenant and safety officer with Glendora Fire Company in Gloucester Township.

Sims, his son, Alexander, Jr., and his daughter, Jamie, all volunteer together. The elder Alexander, who has been firefighting since 2001, joined Glendora in 2014 after moving to the area a few years prior. In 2018, Alexander, Jr. joined the company.

“I like helping people. I like seeing people smile,” he says. “I didn't know what I wanted to do – but considering most of my family are firefighters, I decided to follow in my father's footsteps.”

And last August, Jamie made it three Sims at Glendora. She’s a junior firefighter with the company, gaining the skills and experience needed to advance to full-fledged firefighting as an adult.

As she points out, there’s a lot of benefit to joining a fire company when you have someone you already know there to lean on and learn from.

“If I have questions, I go to my dad most of the time,” Jamie says. “We can come home and if I see something on the scene and have questions about it, I can ask him.”

Alexander Jr. says that volunteering also provides great opportunities for the three of them to bond – though when they go on a call, they’re all business.

“When we go on a fire call, we’re family, but we gotta get a job done,” he says. “It's weird working alongside your father, but it's fun.”

Glendora is one of four fire companies in Gloucester Township – the others being Chews Landing, Blenheim, and Erial – that launched a volunteer recruitment campaign in 2019.

“You don’t need any prior experience with firefighting to join us, and we’ll provide all the gear and training for free,” says Chief Michael Ricciardelli, recruitment campaign chair.

Convincing others to give their time for no pay can be challenging, but there are plenty of rewards to reap from volunteering with the fire service.

Some people hope to turn their volunteer experience into a career in firefighting; Alexander, Jr. is one of them. But the skills one learns at a volunteer company can transfer into any number of vocations and in day-to-day life, as well.

“You learn skills that you can use not just inside the firehouse but outside, too, like leadership and working together as a team,” Alexander, Jr. says.

Helping others and giving back to the community – something all three Sims at Glendora enjoy – is a big part of the volunteer experience, too.

“Anyone should join if they want to do something good to give back to the community or if they like helping people,” says Alexander Sr.

“You can help and see the smiles of the kids when you go by,” says Jamie. “It could be a long day or long night, and just seeing that smile can make you happy.”

Many volunteers, like the Sims, have blood connections to the fire service – but that’s not required. Perhaps the most important thing a volunteer fire company like Glendora can provide people is a “home away from home.”

“You might not be on a call, but they're still there for you to talk to,” Jamie says. “It's like a second family; it's home.”

Start your tradition of volunteering today with a Gloucester Township volunteer fire company. Visit www.FirefightersofGloucesterTwp.org today to learn more and sign up.