By Isabella Zarate
Mahomet’s Mitch Rolson was recently honored as the Urbana Firefighter of the Year.
“The fire service has kind of been part of my life for my entire life,” Rolson shared.
For almost 15 years, Rolson has followed in the footsteps of his dad who dedicated nearly 30 years of his life to the Cornbelt Fire Department.
While Rolson got his start volunteering at the Cornbelt Department, he eventually took up a full time position with the Urbana Department in 2017.
For Rolson, being a firefighter was always in the cards. “I just knew from a pretty young age that it was something I really wanted to do,” he shared.
Firefighters don’t have typical 9-5 jobs, thus working full-time in the field can come with a lot of challenges, one of the biggest being the idea of the unknown.
“I know it’s not going to be the same as the day before or the day before that.”
Despite years of training and preparation, something about diving into the unknown, or in Rolson’s case an abundance of flames, always leaves the dedicated fireman with an uneasy feeling.
“I think everybody has a certain amount of fear [going into a fire],” Rolson noted.
“If you don’t feel that way you’re probably not doing things right because every situation we get into is different than the last.”
He went on, “Anybody that tells you that they’re not nervous or that they are not a little bit scared going to a fire would be absolutely lying.”
Aside from the unknown and the idea of chasing danger, there are a few other reasons that distinguish life at the firehouse as opposed to that of an average desk job.
“I work 24 hours on and am off for 48,” he explains. In those 24 hours that Rolson is on call he, along with the other firefighters, live at the firehouse.
“I spend a third of my life with them,” he shares. “[They] are basically like a second family to you.”
Amongst the disparitie, Rolson continues to find light in the chaos.
“There’s all kinds of moments. . .anytime you can go and actually make a difference in somebody’s day or somebody’s life,” he explained. “That’s almost an everyday occurrence.”
