Tampa's father-daughter firefighting rescue team

TAMPA, Fla. - A fire in an attic may not be the way most people start their day, but for rookie Tampa firefighter Lauren Glanton, it seems to come naturally. 

"That was my alarm clock," she said. "It was fire time, time to rock and roll!"

Answering the call runs in the family. 

"Broken legs, gunshot wounds, overdoses and everything else," said Lauren’s dad, Larry, a Tampa Fire Rescue paramedic who has seen it all during his 24 years with the department.

But now, Lauren has become the first daughter to follow in her father’s footsteps in the department’s more-than-100-year history. There have been dozens of sons who have followed their fathers, but none like Lauren. 

"I am the first," she laughed. 

But it didn’t come without concern.

"I told her that you’re going to see the worst of the worst," said Larry. "People are not going to call us to have cookies and ice cream. They’re going to call us when things are really bad."

But in all the years of wearing the uniform, Larry, a father of four, may not always have been aware that Lauren was watching how he helped people in need.

"At times, in church, when someone passed out and he had to go into action," she recalled. 

And Lauren may have picked up more than just boots and a helmet when she joined the department. She came complete with a desire to help that was passed down. 

"You get to hug that mother who just lost her child," said Lauren. "You can be that shoulder for someone to lean on when their day is going horribly."

When Lauren was sworn in as the department’s first daughter, even the most grizzled veterans couldn’t hold back.

"I was good until a district chief started crying," laughed Larry. "Then I started crying."

You won’t catch either one crying when they’re on duty, but when help is needed, Tampa Fire Rescue’s first father and daughter are ready to answer the call.