NAMPA, Idaho — For firefighters, holidays don't always mean time off, but crews say the job comes with a built-in support system that helps families navigate the season.
At Nampa Fire stations, firefighters continue their routine training during the holiday week, explaining how coworkers step in for one another so families don't have to miss everything.
WATCH: Nampa firefighters talk how they handle holidays
For firefighters with young kids, working holidays often means adjusting traditions — not abandoning them.
"We can bring the whole family in. We try to treat it as normal as possible so the kids don't necessarily feel the difference. It's just at a different place," said Ryan McBride, a firefighter at Station 2.
McBride says his kids are still young, four and two, but even then, working holidays takes planning and some creativity.
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"So this is actually the first Christmas I haven't worked in several years. And so we'll just say, 'Santa came early because he knows that daddy has to go to work to help people,'" McBride explained.
For firefighters without kids, that flexibility often comes from stepping in for coworkers who do.
"I don't have little kids waiting for me at home. So, I try and help them out so that they have the freedom to go spend that time with their families," said Tennly Bowden, a firefighter at Station 2.
When asked if it's ever really a second thought to do that for colleagues, Bowden responded without hesitation.
"Oh, no. Absolutely not. Yeah. It's important to them, so it's important to me," added Bowden. "So anything I can do to help them out."
Firefighters rotate through A, B, and C shifts every 48 hours regardless of the calendar. Which crew lands on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day is simply up to the calendar.
"We, as firefighters and first responders, spend a third of our lives together," said David O'Connor, battalion chief with Nampa Fire.
At larger stations like Station 1, that can mean dozens of people sharing a single holiday meal— with families and extended families coming to join the firehouse family.
"The only difficult thing, which for us sometimes can be a blessing in disguise, is if we get a call and they have to do the cleanup. But then what happens is you come back to the station with all the dishes done, and they don't know where to put anything," O'Connor said.
While crews across Nampa Fire continue training through the holiday week, firefighters at Station 6 are preparing to unwrap a large Christmas present: a new fire engine being put into service in early January.
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