In 2024, the Chandler, AZ, Fire Department welcomed 19 babies from 18 firefighters, gaining attention from news stations across the United States. In 2025, the Windsor Fire & Rescue Services (WFRS) in Ontario, Canada, surpassed that number by welcoming 30 babies from 29 firefighters.

The baby boom wasn’t noticed by WFRS members right away. At the end of 2024 and start of 2025, Chief James Waffle saw an influx of maternity and paternity leave requests but didn’t think much of it since they weren’t all at once.

It wasn’t until firefighter Rick Miller called Waffle and showed him the buzz around the Chandler Fire Department that things changed. Miller then proposed sharing the story and coordinating a photo with all the parents and babies. Waffle easily supported the idea.

"It's an exciting time for Windsor Fire and Rescue Services," Waffle told Firehouse. "For those of us in the fire service, we know that our spouses and our children become part of the broader family."

In Ontario, legislation allows up to five weeks off for paternity and maternity leave. With so many firefighters involved, it could have raised concerns about department operations during absences. However, Waffle was not worried about how WFRS would function.

"This is part of what we do in the fire service," Waffle stated. "We ensure that we're operationally covered, and we maintain our frontline response at all times."

The department backfilled through increased overtime allotments to maintain staffing levels. Still, it was not significant enough to pull rigs out of service.

The story caught Miller’s interest when his wife found out she was pregnant around March 2025, and he noticed constant notifications about fellow members expecting. Eventually, they began writing the names of expecting parents on a whiteboard at the department.

"Every month there's like two emails rolling in of people who are having kids or who have just had kids," Miller said. "We got to 29, and we're like, holy smokes, like that's a lot of guys. That sparked interest in my mind, because I thought, we should definitely do something."

Coordinating the photo

In January 2026, with support from the department and Waffle, Miller coordinated a photo of the 29 firefighters, their spouses, and the 30 babies to showcase the WFRS family’s expansion.

"We have such a strong family atmosphere in the department, and I wanted to capture that," Miller told Firehouse. "It's a huge milestone in everybody's life."

Miller reached out to one of the members’ wives, Jessica Tullio, who is a professional photographer in Windsor. Miller had nothing but incredible praise for Tullio in the way she handled the photoshoot, set up and turned out.

Planning took about three months because schedules had to align, everyone had to be in uniform, and the station, rigs and equipment needed cleaning. The International Association of Fire Fighters also made matching onesies for the babies.

"Coordinating everybody, you can imagine how tough it is," Miller said. "When we had all the families there, kids, plus the on-duty firefighters themselves, there was probably close to over 100 people in one station at one time."

The photo was taken in March, with each family also getting personal photos. Miller described the photoshoot as “herding cats.” Keeping the babies occupied and lining everyone up was a tall task.

He called Tullio a “magician” for how she distracted the kids during the photos. Miller recalled the first 30-40 seconds were quiet, then one baby started screaming and the dominoes fell from there to all of the babies screaming. 

"It was an incredible opportunity to watch all these individuals, their kids and their spouses all around one fireball getting together for this picture," Waffle said. "A little bit of chaos but surrounded by a really good positive vibe."

Fostering camaraderie

Having so many people share similar experiences builds community and strengthens those relationships. In the fire service, that is amplified. Spouses and children are considered family, and the WFRS exponentially increased their family in 2025.

"This is a positive reflection on the strong culture in our department and in the fire service," Waffle said. "We welcome these children as part of our own, and let's face it, and if you've been around the fire service long enough, chances are that one day some of them just may become part of this."

Not to mention, these babies are going to be growing up at the same time, going to the same schools, playing sports and doing extracurriculars together and graduating together..

"There's so many of us that show up to each other's birthday parties, baptisms, first communions, whatever it is, we're all there for each other," Miller told Firehouse.

Miller, a second-generation firefighter with a cousin in the department who also had a baby, reflected on what it was like growing up in fire stations and how tight-knit the community was.

"I think growing up in a fire family, your kids, as they come around the fire station, they begin to understand that you're sacrificing so much more for a community," Miller stated. "It's not about your parent just going to work; they're going to help somebody."

The parents can bounce ideas, problems and questions off each other. And with how many new parents there are, first class firefighter Jacob Pitre said he can spread his questions among the group and doesn’t have to feel like a burden by pelting one person with all his inquiries.

"You get to learn a lot from sitting around the table and hearing from others' experiences," Pitre said. "It's humbling that the guys are willing and able to share those experiences."

"It's the best career and the best job in the world, and the best job to prepare you for parenting," Miller said.

There is even a group chat amongst the new parents in the department, where everyone can relay problems, questions, mistakes and experiences to one another.

"We're all in it together," Miller said, confirming the group chat's existence. "The amount of communication is crazy."

"You have so many people that you can talk to, and kind of relate to," Pitre added. "You never feel like you are by yourself."