Jody Carroll has been fighting fires for the Division of Forestry for the last eight years. You can see the fresh scars on his nose, ear and face from second-degree burns.
"They way I see it, it is just a battle scar," Carroll said Monday.
Carroll received the scars while battling a 17,000-acre fire over the weekend. Saturday afternoon, while Carroll was hosing down hot spots, the 31-year-old was quickly reminded of the dangers of his job.
"As soon as the water went in, it came up in my face and all I could do is tuck and roll and hit the ground," Carroll said.
The firefighter said the pain rushed over him, a feeling he won't soon forget.
"It was like putting your hand on a stove. It was immediate shock. It really hurt," Carroll said.
And without his safety equipment, his wounds could have been worse.
"It protected me from a really bad situation, especially my safety glasses. It (the steam) could have got in my eyes and possibly blinded me," Carroll said.
Carroll's fellow firefighters rushed to his side. Men he just met last week he now considers family.
"That's what we are suppose to do: keep each other safe. Soon as something bad happens, we are right there for each other," Carroll said.
The scars did not hold Carroll back. He went back to work the very next morning.
"It's what I do. I guess I'm hard-headed like that. I love the job," Carroll said.
Carroll lives in Tallahassee and came to assist with the firefight on Wednesday.
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