Five Journeys, One Future with Charlotte Fire

Members of Charlotte Fire Recruit Class 135 come from different backgrounds and experiences, but all share the same goal: serving the Queen City and answering the call when the community needs them most.  

By Kevin Campbell, Charlotte Fire

The tones drop without warning. A recruit snaps on bunker gear. Another grabs an air pack. Across the training grounds at the Charlotte Fire Training Academy, sweat, exhaustion, and determination all collide in the same moment.  

For Charlotte Fire Recruit Class 135, the journey to becoming a firefighter is already demanding. Long days of physical training, classroom instruction, technical rescue drills, and teamwork are shaping the next generation of firefighters who will soon answer calls across the Queen City.  

But behind every recruit standing on the training ground is a story.  

Some were inspired by tragedy. Others grew up in firehouses. Some served in the military. One nearly became a police officer before choosing the fire service instead. Together, their paths are different, but they all arrived at the same place: a desire to serve something bigger than themselves.  

As Charlotte Fire continues accepting applications for its firefighter recruit program, these five recruits represent the people stepping forward to protect one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities.  

For Recruit Blas Munoz, the journey started close to home.  

A Charlotte native and graduate of South Mecklenburg High School, Munoz first became involved with the Charlotte Fire Explorers program as a teenager. At first, he attended only briefly before stepping away. But something kept pulling him back.  

When he returned at 17 years old, he realized the fire service was no longer just an interest. It was a calling.

Charlotte Fire Recruit Blas Munoz first discovered the fire service through the Charlotte Fire Explorers program before deciding to pursue a career serving the city where he grew up.

“The Explorers made me love the job,” Munoz said. “They made me want to become a firefighter, but they made me want to join this department especially.”  

One moment in particular cemented that decision.  

Munoz remembers watching Charlotte firefighters battle the massive SouthPark fire on Liberty Row. While many people saw flames and danger, he saw confidence, bravery, and purpose.  

“I just saw how the firefighters went in all confidently and with bravery,” he said. “I just knew that was what I wanted to do, to help others and give back to the city that raised me.”  

Now inside recruit school, Munoz says the process has been more difficult than he expected, but also more rewarding. The physical training pushes him daily, while instructors continue helping recruits build confidence and technique.  

“It’s hard and fun,” he said. “I like it a lot. It’s just a great thing to do every single day.”  

For Recruit Jordan Tucker, the decision to become a firefighter came after witnessing devastation firsthand.

After witnessing the impact firefighters had on communities devastated by Hurricane Helene, Charlotte Fire Recruit Jordan Tucker was inspired to dedicate his future to helping others. 

Originally from Winston-Salem, Tucker graduated from Appalachian State University shortly before Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina and impacted the Boone community he had grown to love.  

When he returned to help after the storm, he saw firefighters serving communities in some of their darkest moments.  

“After seeing the devastation and seeing how much of a difference that firefighters can actually make in a community, it touched me a lot,” Tucker said. “It helped me get to Charlotte to be a firefighter.”  

Tucker said Charlotte Fire stood out because of the variety and opportunity the department offers.  

“When I chose Charlotte, I wanted to be in a bigger city,” he said. “You’re going to see a bit of everything. Fire, helping out in the community, medical calls. Charlotte gives me a very robust way to build my tool set to be the best firefighter that I can be.” 

Inside recruit school, Tucker has embraced the challenge. He described the instructors as demanding but supportive, while also emphasizing the importance of teamwork among classmates.  

“Finding out what everybody’s strengths are is super important,” he said. “That way we can play off everybody’s strengths and be as efficient as possible.”  

Recruit Garson Greathouse arrived at Charlotte Fire after already serving more than a decade in the Army.  

Originally from California, Greathouse moved to North Carolina through military service and spent more than 12 years in the Army, including time in Afghanistan and psychological operations assignments overseas. After leaving the military, he transitioned into the corporate world but quickly realized something was missing.  

“I really missed being the guy doing the thing,” Greathouse said.  

Through his previous job, Greathouse met several Charlotte firefighters and became interested in the fire service. Coming from a public safety family that included law enforcement and firefighters, the profession felt familiar.

Charlotte Fire Recruit Garson Greathouse brought years of military service and leadership experience with him as he transitioned from the Army to the fire service.  

“The fire department was the best bet for me,” he said. “I get to do the fire side, I get to do the EMS side, and I get to blend both of those things.”  

Greathouse said his military experience taught him how to understand people from different backgrounds and perspectives, something he believes directly applies to serving Charlotte’s diverse community.  

“I don’t come into it with, ‘I don’t understand you,’” he said. “It’s, ‘How can I understand you? How can I be of better service to you based off your circumstances?’”   

That mindset has carried into recruit school, where he says adversity and training challenges have helped build strong bonds among classmates.  

“There’s nothing like group trials of adversity and how that brings you together,” Greathouse said. “I’m so excited to come to work every day.”  

For Recruit Elijah Morton, the fire service has always been part of life.  

Morton is a fourth-generation firefighter whose family history in the fire service stretches back decades in eastern North Carolina. His great-grandfather started the fire department in the community where he grew up. His grandfather served as chief. His father later became chief as well before retiring from Charlotte Fire in 2024.

Charlotte Fire Recruit Elijah Morton is continuing a four-generation family tradition of firefighters while preparing for a career serving the Queen City.  

“I just felt like this was a calling for me,” Morton said. “Growing up around the fire station and helping people, I felt like that was something I wanted to do. I wanted to be there for people on their worst day.”   

Morton began volunteering as a firefighter at 18 years old before eventually finding his way to Charlotte Fire.  

Although he came from a much smaller department, Charlotte Fire appealed to him because of its growth, opportunities, and specialized teams.  

“No matter what you want to do, whether you want to go to the airport, be on hazmat, anything like that, there’s plenty of options here at Charlotte,” Morton said.  

Recruit school has only reinforced that feeling. Morton described the class as an immediate brotherhood, one that formed from the first day of training.  

“We all got together as one big brotherhood and it just felt like family to me,” he said.  

Recruit Brandon Hughes took perhaps the most unconventional route to Charlotte Fire.  

Originally from Long Island, New York, Hughes served in the Marine Corps before eventually settling in North Carolina. At one point, he was already moving through the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department recruit process and preparing for the state exam.  

Then came a conversation with family.  

After weighing the realities and dangers associated with law enforcement, Hughes and his family ultimately decided the fire service offered a better path for both service and family life.  

“I just wanted to help people,” Hughes said. “We decided to pivot a little bit and came here.”  

Now 38 years old and the oldest member of the recruit class, Hughes says recruit school has been energizing. He credits the relationships among classmates, veterans, and recruits from different backgrounds for creating a positive culture.

After serving in the Marine Corps and reevaluating his career path with his family, Charlotte Fire Recruit Brandon Hughes found purpose and brotherhood in the fire service.  

“There’s no one trying to hoard information or keep anything from anybody,” Hughes said. “You can’t have a bad day here. It’s almost impossible.” 

At home, Hughes said his children now connect with his work in a way they could not before.  

“I can actually come home and my kids are a little bit older now,” he said. “I can tell them about the fire we got today. It builds momentum to get to the next day.”  

While each recruit arrived at Charlotte Fire differently, they all describe a similar experience inside recruit school: pressure, teamwork, growth, and purpose.  

Every day at the academy pushes recruits physically and mentally. They learn hose operations, ladders, forcible entry, search techniques, technical rescue, EMS skills, hazardous materials operations, and firefighter survival drills designed to prepare them for emergencies across Charlotte.  

But the recruits say the training is about more than learning skills. It is about building trust.  

That trust becomes critical when firefighters eventually respond together to house fires, medical emergencies, rescues, hazardous materials incidents, and major disasters across the Queen City and beyond.

For recruits entering the department today, the opportunity to grow is significant. So is the responsibility.  

Over the next several weeks, these recruits will continue preparing for graduation before officially beginning their careers on Charlotte Fire apparatus across the city.  

For Munoz, it means serving the city that raised him.  

For Tucker, it means helping communities the same way firefighters helped after Hurricane Helene.  

For Greathouse, it means returning to a purpose-driven life centered on service.  

For Morton, it means continuing a family legacy generations in the making.  

And for Hughes, it means finding the right path to protect both his community and his family.  

Together, they represent the future of Charlotte Fire.  

Charlotte Fire is currently accepting applications for its firefighter recruit program. Those interested in becoming part of the next generation of Charlotte firefighters can learn more and apply online click here. FIREFIGHTER APPLICATION