On Duty, Station 104

The story of Station 104 in Port Credit starts in a coffee shop in 2022. I was on a photo walk and had stopped to grab a coffee and was sitting at a small table on the sidewalk. The siren came first then the fire truck, tearing east along Lakeshore. I might have taken a photo; I’m not sure. What I do remember is the thought that followed: fire trucks pass by every day, but we rarely see the people inside. They’re the ones who protect us, who show up when everything is falling apart. I wanted to show them to the people of Port Credit. I reached out to Fire Chief Deryn Rizzi, and by the summer of 2023, the project had begun. Over the next four months, I embedded with “A Shift,” living in the firehouse spending thirty 24-hour tours of duty with the crew. They quickly became my people. We went on calls together, watched TV, joked around, and shared meals. Ten minutes after walking into Station 104 on my first day, we were already leaping into the truck, heading to a house fire. Some of the photos from that first day are in this gallery. A few days later, I witnessed something I’ll never forget: A Shift brought a man back to life. When we arrived, he was VSA, Vital Signs Absent. They worked fast and got him breathing again. But back at the station, no one mentioned it. No high fives, no talk. Just another day. That’s how they are. They will probably roll their eyes when they read this, but to me, they’re superheroes. Sure, they’ve got the gear, the training, and the backup, but every time the alarm sounds, they have no idea what’s waiting for them. Still, they go. They help. Then they come back, laugh about the weekend, cook dinner, and wait for the next call.