Marketplace, January 2025
Anthony Pedro spent nine years in prison, and three of those years as a firefighter. When he got out, he got dropped off at the local fire department. “Because I didn’t have transportation,” he said. “And just knocked on the door.” By a stroke of sheer luck, a fire chief who believed in second chances was working that day, and gave him an internship. Pedro worked his way up as a seasonal firefighter. In the off-season, he slept in his car, and volunteered for the local fire department where he got his start.
“That volunteer department was my way to shower and wash clothes and things like that. That was my home,” he said. But in order to land a full-time job as a firefighter, Pedro had to pay for training and certification tests. In prison, he learned how to run hose lines and actually extinguish flames. But there’s a lot more to the job. “You gotta be able to drive the engine. But when you get to the scene, you gotta know how to pump the water,” he said. “And then also the EMT. That’s a huge part.” Pedro said whole process cost him thousands of dollars and took two years before he finally landed the full-time job he wanted. Pedro said he realizes he’s one of the lucky ones who actually made it through the whole process.
