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CulpepperÐÔÊӽ紫ý first firefighter experience was at three years old when the Post 2305 group used to do kids’ birthday parties as a way to raise money. He had a firefighter-themed birthday party every year from age three to 13.

Culpepper joined the Post when he was 14.

Allen learned about the post when he saw Culpepper a few years ago in fire gear at an event. He noted that he was young and asked him about a junior group.

Both young men just graduated — from high school and from Explorer Post 2305. Both are pursuing a future as firefighters.

Culpepper sees himself as a career firefighter. “I can’t imagine doing anything else,� he says.

Allen sees himself as always being involved in firefighting, but not necessarily exclusively. “I want to do other things, too,� he says. One of those other things includes real estate.

When talking about why they want to be firefighters, Allen and Culpepper talked about the desire to help people, the personal satisfaction they glean from helping.

But becoming part of the firefighting community through Explorers added a lot to their lives, too. Both talked about how firefighters become like second families, how they “have each others’ backs.�

“Anyone you meet (in the firefighting community) is like a brother,â€� Allen said. “ItÐÔÊӽ紫ý a comforting feeling.â€�

Culpepper said his advice to others joining the Explorer Post is “be a sponge. You can learn something from everyone.â€� He also said that heÐÔÊӽ紫ý learned from Explorers that each person needs to find ways to leverage what works for them — they can learn from various people, as Explorers learn from various fire crews, then they can modify based on their own strengths.

Allen said heÐÔÊӽ紫ý learned that little things matter and can be the difference between saving a life and not. “Timeliness matters,â€� he said. “Seconds can matter.â€�

Allen and Culpepper are both pursuing further training in firefighting with a view to working in the field for a long time.�