For Quint and Austin Schamburg the urge to become a firefighter was never on their mind, until tragedy struck their family. A tornado destroyed their home in 2017 and the urge to help people sprung out from there.
“When we lost our home, the community definitely showed how impressive they were,” Quint Schamburg said. “The first people we saw when we came out of our house was the fire department. We felt like a way to give back to the community that help us, was to join the department and give help to those that need it.”
The Schamburgs have been with the Perryville Fire Department for approximately four years. They attempt to help out on as many incidents as they can.
“We try to get to as many as we can,” Austin Schamburg said. “We work in St. Louis during the day, so in the evening we try to make as many as we can. When those tones drop we go.”
The brothers say they mostly work vehicle accidents, and go to the occasional structure fire when they can.
Dealing with seeing people hurt or injured is another thing that many in the service industries encounter when going to accidents and scenes.
“It doesn’t really hit you when you don’t know the person,” Quint Schamburg said. “But it’s still a bad situation. We have the option that if we know the vehicle, we can stay back and let the others take care of it. If we are beating ourselves up about something that we see, then we can go to anyone that works here and open up to them. A lot of these guys have gone through similar situations.”
The Schamburgs have mentors, with the biggest being Brandon Holman and Major Bill Jones, who recently passed away.
“He’s shown us quite a bit,” Austin Schamburg said of Jones. “He’s been on for so long that he knows so much. It’s different around the station now that he’s gone. You just have to keep going because that’s what he would have wanted. There’s a huge hole without him here and no one person can really replace him. People have really stepped up.”
The brothers work together in St. Louis, so being together also at the Fire Department is nothing new.
“We are best friends and if stuff needs to be done, we just do it,” Quint Schamburg said. “When you get a call you have to work together to do the job.”
The brothers plan on being with the fire department as long as they can.
“We would like to do it as long as Major Jones,” Austin Schamburg said. “It’s a goal of mine. We want to stay safe and do it as long as we can.”
