HOUSTON – Firefighters are known to think on their feet and act quickly in an emergency.
Many are trained to respond to medical issues, can fight fires and are able to solve problems quickly, but what some people may not expect is that they can assemble furniture, too.
Jason Barron is a firefighter in Sugarland and the owner of Fired Up Assemblers, a company he started when he realized some of his on-the-job skills were in demand after hours, too.
"People come up to the fire station all the time and ask about handymen, or pest control -- if we have someone who could do work at their house," Barron said.
Barron works with firefighters from across southeast Texas, from Houston to Beaumont.
Ashley Wills hired them to assemble a trampoline for her kids.
"We support our local firefighters and firefighters (from) all over Houston for that matter," Wills said. "It was a good price, I knew I'd get trustworthy, honest, good-working people so it was a win-win for sure."
Barron said that a lot of what he does during a typical day at the fire station comes in handy for his second job.
"One thing is working together, for sure. All the guys work together, so on a play fort, we can work together quickly. And another thing is tools. We're always good with tools. A lot of firemen have their own tools, and we all have side jobs, so that comes in handy as well," Barron said.
The guys' motto is, "If it comes from a box in the store, we can assemble it."
They've put together basketball goals, sheds, gazebos, play forts, Ikea furniture, even an entire gym full of exercise equipment.
Plus, they claim to be able to assemble your items in a third of the time it would take you to do it, saving time and the all-too-familiar headache of trying to interpret complicated furniture assembly manuals.
Fired Up Assemblers charges by the item, not at an hourly rate. The company said the typical trampoline or basketball goal costs around $125, whereas a large play fort can cost up to $1,200.
Fired Up Assemblers covers about a 100-mile radius from downtown Houston. The company also gives a 10 percent discount to all military members, police officers, firefighters and EMTs.
The crew also relocates items like trampolines, basketball goals, playforts and exercise equipment when people move to a new house. The company will also haul them away for trash.
"The firefighters only do assembling, relocating and hauling off of the items they assemble. They do not do electrical work, sheet rock repairs, or lay tile."