'My Dog Flunked Service School, Now He's An Arson Detector' John Tadlock On 6/3/21 at 8:54 AM EDT Growing up as a kid in Texas, the volunteer fire department was right by our house and as soon as I turned 18 I joined. I knew all along being a firefighter was what I wanted to do but it was put on hold when I married and had my kiddos. In freshman year of college I had taken an ENT course and I went to paramedic school right after that, so I didn't become a paid firefighter for the Saginaw Fire Department in Saginaw, Texas until I was 31 years old.