These 8 individuals, famous for one reason or another, have all suited up as firefighters. Learn more about them below:
TONY ABBOT
Prime Minister Abott is the 28th and current Prime Minister of Australia, a position he’s held since being elected in 2013. He has been in the Australian Parliament since 1994 and became leader of the Liberal Party in 2009. In addition to running the daily affairs of the world’s 12th largest GDP, Abbott is also an active volunteer member for the Davidson, NSW Rural Fire Service. In a 2013 bush fire, Abott joined over a thousand other firefighters to help combat the flames, and if not for a couple of photos that circulated on Twitter, it’s likely that Mr Abbott’s actions would have gone entirely unnoticed. For the Prime Minister, it was just another day as a volunteer firefighter, something he has been doing since 2001.
BRIAN WILLIAMS
Tom is known well to fans of the TV show Survivor and was the winner of the tenth season of the show, Survivor: Palau which was filmed back in 2004. Five years later, Tom again returned to the show, this time as part of Survive: Heroes vs Villians. What fans may not know, is that outside of survivor, Tom actually worked as an FDNY firefighter for 20 years. In 2005, Westman retired from Ladder Company 108, but perhaps it was his quick thinking fireman skills that got him so far on Survivor.
STEVE BUSCEMI
Before Buscemi ever starred in his first film or appeared on TV, he was an FDNY firefighter who began service in 1980. For four years, Buscemi served on Engine 55 in Manhattan’s Little Italy, and only started acting in 1985. However, his acting career does not mean he hasn’t returned to firefighter duty. After 9/11, Buscemi returned to Engine 55, and for several days worked 12-hour shifts alongside other firefighters to sift through the rubble from the World Trade Center. He has since won a Golden Globe and 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards, but for Buscemi, once a firefighter, always a firefighter. Plus, in addition to all the movies and television shows, Buscemi also played himself in a documentary about FDNY stories. It’s an hour long but definitely worth watching at least part of it:
RYAN SUTTER
After the success of the first season of The Bachelor, ABC decided to run a reverse gender spin-off, The Bachelorette and Ryan was the season 1 winner. He was picked by ‘bachelorette’ Trista Rehn and the couple married in an ABC televised wedding on December 6, 2003. Unlike other reality show couples, Ryan and Trista have stayed married and have 2 children together. Prior to the show, Sutter was an NFL draft pick, but his career was short-lived due to injuries. Instead, Ryan has been an active firefighter serving in Vail, Colorado.
JOHN MORRIS
The Vancouver 2010 Olympics were Canada’s most successful Olympic showing ever and John Morris was one of the athletes who made them so special. Morris was part of Canada’s gold medal winning curling team and has helped popularize the sport by writing a book entitled Fit to Curl. When he’s not winning gold medals, or writing books, Morris serves as a full-time firefighter for Rocky View County Fire Services.
MARTIN HANSSON
A household name in the Soccer world, Hansson is a Swedish soccer referee who has reffed games for FIFA since 2001. Hansson rose to prominence when he was selected to be a referee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and was the subject of an award-winning documentary Rättskiparen (The Referee) which chronicled his road to the World Cup. Hansson, however, is most known for his controversial calls and missed calls, one of which led to a decisive goal in a 2010 World Cup game between France and Ireland. On 8 October 2013, Hansson announced that he was retiring from refereeing, andreturning to the far less controversial world of firefighting where nobody yells at him for making calling penalties.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Benjamin Franklin needs no introduction and is known internationally as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Among other things, Franklin was also an author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, diplomat, and firefighting pioneer. In 1736, Franklin created the first ever fire department, the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia. Prior to that, in 1733, Franklin had written about the dangers of fires, and was familiar with Boston’s Mutual Fire Societies, also known as “Fire Clubs.” The issue with the “Fire Clubs” was that they existed only for the protection of their own members and not for everyone in the community. It was precisely for this reason that Franklin founded Union Fire, and became a founding father of modern firefighting. For more on Franklin’s firefighting history, check out the fact sheet and quiz here.These 8 individuals, famous for one reason or another, have all suited up as firefighters. Learn more about them below:
