Firemen finish hanging Christmas lights for woman hospitalized

SOUTH JORDAN — The call for help could be for anything.

And it could come at any time.

It’s one reason why Austin Rekoutis decided to become a firefighter.

“You never know what you are going to get during the day,” he said with a smile. “I grew up around the fire service. I recognize that every day they show up, they love their jobs.”

The right thing to do

However, the kind of call he got on Tuesday is how he knows he really loves his job.

“It was just a small task that needed to be completed and it was the right thing to do,” said Rekoutis.

A woman fell off her ladder while putting up Christmas lights outside her South Jordan home.

After she was taken to the hospital, Rekoutis and his team realized those lights weren’t finished.

“We all of kind of came together and said, ‘hey, this is the right thing to do’. The crew was on board with it,” he said. “We quickly through the ladder up and finished her Christmas lights for her.”

Action attracted those in the community

More than one neighbor took pictures of what the South Jordan firefighters were doing.

One photo shared on a community Facebook page that showed a firefighters on the roof of that house hanging Christmas lights really took off.

“Obviously, we are really proud of the work that took place,” said South Jordan Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Lessner.

Going above and beyond is what Lessner says South Jordan firefighters are encouraged to do whenever possible.

“That is kind of our mantra. To do good things and it is something we empower our staff to really find ways to do good work out with our citizens,” said Lessner.

For Rekoutis and the other firefighters, they just hope the woman is OK.

They say helping put up a few lights wasn’t really a big deal.

“We show up to make somebody’s day better,” said Rekoutis. “That is the best part of the fire service.”