THAT’S MY JOB: Marble Falls firefighter Jordan Thomas born to serve
Jordan Thomas is one of three certified fire truck drivers at Marble Falls Fire Rescue. Staff photo by Nathan Bush
Marble Falls Fire Rescue engineer Jordan Thomas has wanted to work in emergency services for as long as he can remember.
“It’s always been a passion of mine,” he said. “I’ve never even considered another career path.”
Family members with emergency service experience fueled that passion.
“My dad was a paramedic, my aunt was a paramedic, and I just had a lot of people in public safety,” he said. “I’d go visit my dad a lot at the fire station when I was growing up. I would go visit him and see the trucks. I always enjoyed being around the crews at the station.”
The 26-year-old Round Rock native started at Marble Falls Fire Rescue in August 2018 after graduating from Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service in College Station.
“In my personal opinion, you become a firefighter when you get some time on the job and you have a chance to home in on all those skills you learn in fire school,” Thomas said.
He left in March 2020 for a job with a bigger department, but it didn’t take long for him to realize he had made a mistake.
“I went and worked for a different fire department and had some experiences that weren’t the greatest,” Thomas said. “I ended up working there for a year and a half and realized that it wasn’t the place for me.”
Lucky for him, a position at Marble Falls Fire Rescue opened up several months later.
“My wife and I were traveling for a little bit and we were overseas in Thailand, and I actually got a phone call from the department that there was a position open if I wanted to come back,” Thomas said.
He didn’t hesitate to accept the job, which began in October 2021.
“I always knew I would end up back here,” he said.
In April 2023, Thomas was promoted to the rank of engineer. The new badge spelled new responsibilities for the young firefighter.
“I’m in charge of making sure all the trucks are checked off and ready to roll,” he said.
Below is Thomas’ job in his own words:
JORDAN THOMAS
Driver/engineer at Marble Falls Fire Rescue
A DRIVER/ENGINEER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TRUCK. We have a sole responsibility to ensure the crew on the truck gets to and from every call safely. The safety of everybody is in your hands when you’re trying to get to an emergency call. It’s a very big responsibility to have.
WHEN WE RESPOND TO ANY TYPE OF FIRE, one of the responsibilities of the driver/engineer is to run the pump panel. The pump panel is basically all the levers on the truck that control the water from the end of the hose to the nozzle for the firefighters to go in and fight the fire.
WHEN WE’RE ON A SCENE, THERE’S LOTS OF STUFF GOING ON. Somebody needs to be watching and speaking up to let the guys know if something doesn’t look right. While that’s not our primary responsibility, it’s another added thing that’s helpful for the captain on the truck or the chief running command of an incident.
I’M NOT GOING TO SAY IT’S NOT COMPLICATED, but these trucks essentially work for you. Older fire trucks, like our early 2000s model that we just sold, aren’t as sophisticated as the newer ones. The new ones have computers everywhere. You basically pull your lever, set your pressure, and everything else is going to do the job for you.
THE TRUCK DOES NOT HAVE GPS. If we’re out and about, we can’t just pull up Google Maps. It’s really, really crucial for a driver/engineer to know the city or district that they’re responding in. If I get toned out for a call and I don’t even know how to get there, it puts a delay and a hindrance in our response efforts.
IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND YOUR MAPS and where things are in the city. I had a big map made to help. It’s got a legend with a bunch of fill-in-the-blank spots. You can quiz and test yourself on different intersections and streets. It helps you understand and learn the city. That way, when people get behind the wheel of our trucks, they’re familiar with the area.