By now, Jason Williams is used to waking up at any hour of the night. So when he got the call that there was a fire in Corolla – that two beachfront homes were engulfed in flames – he wasted no time in getting to the station.

But don’t mistake the senior’s punctuality for attentiveness.

It’s routine. It’s all routine. The training sessions have prepared him for moments like this.

Put on the uniform. Get the truck out of the bay. Ride. All at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. Waking up before 6 on a Saturday during the summer isn’t necessarily appealing, but it’s part of the job.

“When you wake up in the middle of the night, especially on a call like that because you have to drive so far, you don’t really wake up until you get there,” Williams said. “I was falling asleep in the back (of the fire truck).”

The road seemed endless as it eventually extended toward their destination. He started to see destruction in the soft tones of the morning sky.

“You could see the smoke from a ways off, and as we came around the corner of Lighthouse Drive, the flames on the houses were so bright it looked like the sun coming up,” Williams said.

He was wide awake then.

For the four seniors involved in the Junior Firefighter program at the Southern Shores Volunteer Fire Department – Jason Williams, Chris Watts, Stephen Hines and Christian Dick – a normal sleep schedule was never a part of their job description.

Nearly every other aspect of being a professional firefighter is.

“We have training every week,” Dick said. “As Juniors, we’re not allowed to actually go into a burning building yet. Also, we’re not allowed to run rescue calls yet: That’s when we turn 18 and we can actually become a firefighter. So, as Juniors, we tag hydrants, we talk to Chief and he tells us where to go and what to do – we do it all.”

Williams, unlike the other three Junior Firefighters, is 18. This allows him to enter burning buildings and fight fires similar to what conspired in Corolla last summer.

No matter what situation occurs, however, the boys are always on standby.

“Your pager goes off and you jump in your car,” Watts said. “You go to the station and get suited up, hop on the truck and then go wherever the call was.”

Quickly, Hines added: “It’s all about helping people.”

That’s the main goal. All four Junior Firefighters share the same compassion and drive for working in public service and making a difference in the community.

As a young boy, Hines remembers being fascinated by fire trucks. When he joined the department last May, he fulfilled a childhood dream.

The same can be said about the others, who have far-reaching familial connections in public service. Williams’ father, Jay, is a firefighter and driver operator for the station. Watts’ dad, Jimmy Ray, was a police officer for the town of Kitty Hawk before retiring last December.

“I always wanted to do public service, but I wanted to be a police officer,” Watts said. “I had no real affinity for the fire department particularly at all, until (Stephen) dragged me to a training program and I just fell in love with it.”

Dick’s family boasts a tradition of military service, and for this Outer Banks newcomer, being a part of the Junior Firefighter program has given him a second family.

“I decided to join when I met Jason Williams. He was in my circle of friends, and then he happened to mention that he was a firefighter. All the stars lined up,” said Dick, who started at First Flight this year after moving from Illinois. “It is a family. A lot of those guys go into fires and they’re risking their lives. It’s something that’s really cool.”

For the students, the program is extensive and varied, and by no means easy. Juggling high school along with sports and other activities can sometimes be difficult for the Junior Firefighters, but not impossible. Especially challenging is when they’re fixing dilemmas around town during the night while most high schoolers are asleep and gearing up for the day ahead.

“It’s hard,” Williams said. “I got up at 11:30 last night to just move a tree out of the road.”

Working in the fall proved to be even more difficult thanks to football.

“It’s a lot harder, especially on Tuesday nights when we’d have training,” Williams said. “I’d go from school, to a three-hour football practice, and then a three-hour training. I wouldn’t get home until 10.”

The sacrifices have been worth it as the Junior Firefighters have mixed training and fun with other volunteers at Southern Shores. Working at the station has impacted their lives in a multitude of ways, from the skills they have learned to friendships they have started.

The fire station has played a key role in their growth as better firefighters and people in general, serving as a safe haven where they can enjoy being high school students while also being “just one of the guys” with the other volunteers. Inside, there is an area with couches, a TV and Xbox, a pool table and an always-stocked fridge.

“People ask me, ‘What’re you doing this weekend?’ and I’ll be like, ‘At the firehouse,’ ” Williams said. “It’ll take over your life and you won’t even realize it. How much time that you actually end up spending there. Even if you’re not really doing anything, just sitting there playing Xbox. It’s crazy how it will change your life.”

Junior Mary Pat Thompson can be reached at thompsonma1001@daretolearn.org.