A Generational Story: the de Rouville family
The de Rouville family has had firefighting in its blood for two generations; more than just an occupation, for them it’s a calling. Charles de Rouville, a firefighter for forty years and now Director of the Department, says it was what he wanted to do for as long as he can remember. At the age of ten, he witnessed a fire in New York.
The de Rouville Family (subtitles available in FR and EN) – Watch the video with the transcript (EN).
After thirty-three years of service, Charles’s cousin Yvon de Rouville is still as passionate about firefighting as he was when he started. He has seen changing generations and attitudes, and he feels privileged to have had the opportunity to share the work he dreamed of as a boy with his son Mathieu Hertel de Rouville. As for Mathieu, the experience of his father and the other firefighters provides him with invaluable lessons every day. In the field, the members of the de Rouville family are colleagues and make no distinction between themselves and the other officers on their team. But sometimes, there’s a pang of emotion when one of them heads into the flames during a fire.
The de Rouville Family (subtitles available in FR and EN) – Watch the video with the transcript (EN).
The de Rouville Family (subtitles available in FR and EN) – Watch the video with the transcript (EN).
Firefighting is demanding, and not all of us have the opportunity to make that dream a reality and wear a firefighter’s gear. The de Rouville family’s experience is unique, memorable, and moving.
The de Rouville Family (subtitles available in FR and EN) – Watch the video with the transcript (EN).