‘There’s Nothing Else I Would Want to Ever Do.’ The Smith Family Legacy

When the sun breaks over the hills of Hazard, Kentucky, the town slowly comes to life. 

But for the Smith brothers, whose firehouse doubles as their second home for much of the week, the work never really stops. 

Firefighting runs deep in the Smith family, a legacy started by their grandfather, carried on by their father, and now shared by four brothers, Brandon, Josh, Jarred and Jacob, all working side by side in the same firehouse. 

“We were raised in this fire department,” Josh Smith said. “Our mom would pile us into the van and we’d drive to wherever they were fighting the fire and we’d sit there and just watch. It’s a calling I could not have shook if I wanted to.” 

Their grandfather, Earl Smith, was once the town’s fire chief, a man whose name still carries weight in Hazard’s Fire Department. 

“I’ll always refer to him as chief, because he was my chief,” Assistant Fire Chief Freddie Guffey said. “Main street could be burning down and he would be the coolest, most calm fire chief.” 

But the Smith name didn’t always guarantee a job at the station, as the legacy that came with being a Smith sometimes worked against the brothers. 

“They did not want any more Smiths in the fire department,” Josh Smith said. “It took me from 2017 to 2021 just to get on the roster as a volunteer, that was just the attitude towards our family.” 

Josh said he felt pressure to prove himself, to show his coworkers he wasn’t just another Smith walking in the door, but a firefighter who had earned every inch of the ground he stood on. 

“I’m not owed anything here because of my last name,” he said. “I have worked like a dog to prove myself since I came in the door because I don’t want it to be ‘He’s a Smith, that’s why he works here, they had to hire him.’” 

Even with his hiring problems behind him, he never takes his role for granted, seeing each shift as both a responsibility and a privilege. 

For the Smiths, family extends far beyond bloodlines, stretching to the people they serve alongside in the firehouse day after day.  

“That’s part of the camaraderie here, it’s a brotherhood,” Josh Smith said. “The fire service is a brotherhood and everybody you work with is your brother.”