While their peers spend time between classes training with their sports teams or singing with their a cappella groups, Hauca and Nathan Plough ’11 fight fires with local volunteer fire companies.
Neither Hauca nor Plough planned on joining a fire company when coming to college, they said.
Plough had his first experience as a volunteer firefighter when he returned to his hometown of Farmington, Conn. after his freshman year. To join the local emergency medical technician squad, he also needed to become a firefighter. “I really fell in love with it, even though I didn’t really start doing it because it was something I was attracted to,” he said.
When Plough returned to campus during his sophomore fall, he joined the Princeton Hook and Ladder Company to continue his volunteer work. The company’s main responsibilities are conducting search-and-rescue operations and ripping into the roofs of buildings, letting the smoke escape before the fire swells.
Hauca’s passion for firefighting, meanwhile, was kindled much earlier. Though she “always wanted to go into firefighting,” her hometown of Nanaimo, British Columbia did not have a volunteer company. When she heard about the opportunity to volunteer with a local firefighting company her freshman fall, she joined Princeton Engine Company Number 1 and began training to respond to emergency situations.
Princeton Hook and Ladder Company and Princeton Engine Company No. 1, along with Mercer Engine Company No. 3, make up the three fire houses of the Princeton Fire Department.
As volunteers, Plough and Hauca are on-call 24 hours a day, though they only respond to emergencies when they are available. Plough estimated that the fire department responds to three to four emergency calls per day, from uncontrolled water leaks to gas alarms to structural fires.
Plough turns his pager off during class at the encouragement of his fellow volunteers, who tell him, “ ‘You go to Princeton; you go there to study. That’s more important,’ ” he said.
Plough said he has only responded to two or three fires, the first of which occurred in January 2009. As he and a partner stood on the roof of a burning building attempting to ventilate the smoke, fire started coming out of the back of the house. “It kind of freaked me out,” Plough said, though his partner just shrugged.
“He was like, ‘Get a grip and do what you have to do,’ ” Plough added.
Hauca’s first experience with firefighting was more recent — when she responded to a major house fire at the College Road faculty housing last month.
Though the fire was severe enough to appear on national news, Hauca said she wasn’t scared. “It was really exciting, like what I always wanted to do,” she explained.
The fire department is staffed exclusively by volunteers. And while their fellow firefighters come from all walks of life, Plough and Hauca are the youngest members of their respective companies.
Plough said that he shares camaraderie with the other volunteers, a bond literally forged in the fire. His first fire was “definitely sort of a bonding experience,” he explained.
Hauca is not only the youngest member of her crew, but she is also the only woman. Most of the other members are men in their 30s with full-time jobs, but she said that the company’s volunteers get along well. “I’m kind of used to it. Growing up, I always played hockey with boys,” she explained.
“You definitely have to put up with their jokes sometimes, but I like being around guys, so it’s not a problem,” Hauca added.
Both Plough and Hauca hope to continue firefighting even after graduation.
Plough, a ROTC cadet, said he is considering becoming either a professional or volunteer firefighter after he completes his four years in the army.
Hauca, who is also interested in fashion, public relations and marketing, said that returning to firefighting might have to wait a while. She hopes to move to New York after graduation, she explained, but the Big Apple only has a career fire department which requires its members to be U.S. citizens, while Hauca is Canadian.
Regardless of the future, both are enjoying their experiences as firefighters now.
Firefighting is “a physical challenge, and I really enjoy it,” Plough said. “And you get to help people.”
Hauca said she enjoys giving back to the community and working with the other volunteers, adding, “I really enjoy fire trucks.”
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