Personality Behind the Profile: Fireman Lance

Lance Woodruff has been fire medic for the Longview, TX, Fire Department (LFD) for 10 years, but in 2022, he made the decision to start a comedic social media brand known as Fireman Lance.

Woodruff began with TikTok in September 2022, and he has gained 199,500 followers. With his success on the then-newer media outlet, Fireman Lance made his debut on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, shortly after. Between those three accounts, Woodruff has gained more than 238,000 followers.

At the start it was husband and wife skits but transformed to comedic short skits emulating fire and EMS situations that Woodruff either experienced himself, stories he heard or ideas that he came up with.

“I’ve had some people reach out and say they've learned some things to keep them from making some mistakes,” Woodruff told Firehouse.com. "I've had some good people reach out and tell me that it's turned their day around. It's just really cool to see that."

Woodruff viewed the account as a place to comfortably and healthily open up about who he is and what he faces with his job.

“I hoped that it would relate to some of the dark situations that we kind of encounter as EMS and first responders, in general, to bring light to all the dark stuff,” said Woodruff.

Woodruff’s public safety career started when he went to medical school and started working as an EMT-basic at a transfer service. He wanted to get his foot in the door, and after two applications to LFD, he was hired.

Fireman Lance didn’t get a ton of traction right away, but after a few overnight virality on his videos, he had gained a solid following. His schedule doesn’t follow a pattern, but he aims to get one video out a week, a process that he does solo.

"My favorite skit would be one of the first ones I made to get my start," Woodruff told Fihreouse.com. "The one where I’m having a dream that instead of it being my ambulance day, it’s my day to ride the fire engine!"  

“I find that if you post every day, people kind of get tired of seeing your face,” said Woodruff. “They don't seem to get as much from video, and it's like when you're watching the television show and you can't wait for the next episode.”

Soon after his videos gained traction, Jason Patton, one of his inspirations, reached out and asked to be a part of Fire Department Coffee.

A big step for Woodruff was the exposure to where he works after he was able to get the thumbs up from his supervisors. He doesn’t wear any LFD gear in his videos and was hesitant to let his audience know. However, he knew he was going about it the right way of being appropriate, clean and original.

“I have to be at the root of my job at all times,” Woodruff tells Firehouse. “I want my department out there, and I want them to know that I'm proud of where I work.”

After some discussions, Woodruff learned that his supervisors were a fan of his content and supported what he was doing and how he was doing it.

Another thing that makes Fireman Lance unique is that he works to personally respond to anyone who interacts with his videos.

“I love seeing what everybody has to say, and I try to stay as humble as I can. It's really cool to see what kind of outreach you can have, doing stuff like this,” Woodruff explains.

Even early on, Fireman Lance was reaching people he was not aware about. He recalls a story where The Salty Paramedic, Cody Spaulding, told him he had been watching Woodruff’s videos from the beginning. Spaulding was another influence within the fire service that Woodruff was watching before his own brand was created.

“I never expected anything to come out of what I was doing. I was just doing this for me and for fun,” said Woodruff. “I never expected to get anywhere that I am today.”