News Photo by Josh Jambor Alpena firefighter Todd Adrian poses for a photo next to a Christmas tree at the Alpena Public Safety building on Wednesday. The area’s local emergency responders often have to spend the holidays away from their families, but they know it is a part of their job.

ALPENA — Unspoken sacrifices are a part of the job description. However, you will never hear any of our emergency services personnel complain about not spending holidays like Christmas with their friends and family.

They understand what they signed up for when they decided on their career choice and they show up to work no matter what.

Both the Alpena Fire Department and the Alpena Township Fire Department have staff on duty during Thanksgiving, Christmas and News Years and they make the best of holiday while at work.

Imagine for a moment you just sat down to eat your holiday meal with all of l your loved ones with you, the food is fresh out of the oven, and the apple pie smells amazing.

As you are about to devour your meal, a very loud siren goes off, accompanied by flashing red lights. That meal you were about to eat will have to wait and will surely need to be reheated when you return from the emergency.

But, duty calls.

“You get used to it,” explained Doug Krueger, a firefighter for Alpena. “We have a rotation so personnel can alternate holidays,” Krueger said. “Family is always welcome. This year we are hoping to start a new tradition with a family Christmas party. We will be decorating and baking Christmas cookies. Everyone is excited for that”

That is just one story firefighters shared.

Township firefighter Ryan Mendyk mentioned some of the adjustments firefighters have to make working in emergency services.

“The hardest part of the job is always being away from family for long periods of time.,” he said. “We still continue our family traditions at home but we just celebrate on different days when necessary. We get time off, so we just schedule things on those days”

Ultimately working on any holiday can be tough, the firefighter said. One thing that stood out was the fact that the firefighters’ families supported them and did the best they could to make their loved ones feel included.

A supportive family is critical, they say, for good morale, particularly around the holidays says Alpena firefighter Nick Adamiak,

“It is very important to have the support of your family,” Adamiak said. “That can make a world of difference. Family is always welcome here and we encourage that. We had a big Thanksgiving meal, and it looks like ham for Christmas.”