Tom Howard, a full-time firefighter since 1993 and an Evanston firefighter since 1999, looks like he’s straight from central casting. He is tall, fit, tattooed and confident.
Firefighters, like most first responders, are active, take-charge, Type-A people. They like helping. Broadly speaking, showing emotion or admitting vulnerability does not come naturally.
“We don’t do sad,” Howard said. “We go right to anger.”