“The rumor is I screamed and cried all the way there,” he said.

Now, Howie has found a home working as a firefighter and paramedic with the East Lansing Fire Department alongside more than 30 other firefighters.

At least six firefighters work at any given time — shifts last 24 hours.

During the school year, East Lansing Fire Station 1, 1700 Abbot Road, sometimes receives between 16-20 calls to service after midnight Saturday morning, Howie said.

With every call for a structural fire or serious accident, the firefighters at the station are filled with excitement, East Lansing fire Capt. Ken Lehto said.

“When there’s a house fire or a bad accident, we’re raring to go,” Lehto said. “Sometimes the hardest thing in the world as a supervisor is to be patient going on calls.”

As East Lansing firefighter and paramedic Kirk Easterbrook drove an ambulance to the Ingham Regional Medical Center at about 8 p.m. Friday, fellow East Lansing firefighter and paramedic Chris Lum sat next to the woman they were transporting and asked about her pain and whether it was cool enough in the vehicle.

The run was tame in comparison to other Friday nights, said Howie, who also responded to the call but did not transport the patient to the hospital.

When they aren’t responding to emergencies, firefighters at East Lansing Fire Station 1 eat together, sleep within yards of each other and watch movies to pass the time during 24-hour shifts.

From playing poker to get out of dish duty to competing for the best seats to watch television, the firefighters have grown to become a family, Easterbrook said.

“We’re just like kids in a family — picking on each other and fighting in the back seats (of a car),” he said.

But when the sirens begin and they’re working in a potentially dangerous situation, the name-calling ends, he said.

“You look at them as part of your family,” he said. “You would do anything you needed to to protect them and keep them safe.”