9/11 Led Firefighters to a Life of Purpose

A decade ago, Kevin Dillen was a 29-year-old working nights as a bartender and studying at Washtenaw Community College, hoping to further his education and rise the corporate ladder in the oil and gas industry back home in Calgary, Alta.

He recalled walking into the college on Sept. 11, 2011, and seeing students huddled around television sets. He joined the crowd and saw the replay of the airplanes flying into the World Trade Center towers, over and over and over again.

“At first, I thought it was a television show. But it then it hit me,” Dillen said. “It was devastating and surreal. I was awestruck.”

In the coming weeks Dillen learned details of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people and of the heroism of the emergency responders who went up into the burning towers on rescue missions.

Today, Dillen is a firefighter on the Saline Area Fire Department. He said the events of 9/11 helped him change his path that led to his career as a firefighter.

“At the time, I was bartending. I saw a job as a way to make money. I didn’t have any direction. I didn’t really have a goal. I didn’t have purpose,” Dillen said. “The events of 9/11 gave me a focal point. I started thinking about doing something with the fire department.”

He joined the Saline Area Fire Department as an on-call firefighter. He began work as a full-time firefighter with the department a little more than a year ago.

The way he views work has changed.

“I used to look at it as making money—getting in and getting out. But this so job is so fulfilling in so many different ways that I don’t see it as a job,” Dillen said. “I see it as giving back to the community, whether it is putting out a house on fire or showing the big red truck with the flashing lights to the first graders. It’s not a job. It’s a way of life.”

Sean Payeur has been with the fire department about as long as Dillen. But he’s 16 years younger. On Sept. 11, 2001, Payeur was a student in eighth grade at Saline Middle School.

“I don’t remember a lot about the actual attacks. We were in school. We knew about it. We knew something was going on. Kids were talking about it and rumors were flying, but nobody was really sure,” Payeur said.  “I remember teachers watching television. When we came in, they’d shut off the television.”

Payeur learned that it was terrorism, but it didn’t really register with the youngster.

“I didn’t really know what a terrorist was. I was more concerned about what I was eating for lunch that day, or what we were doing at recess,” Payeur said. “I learned that world was a lot bigger than Saline that day.”
Payeur learned more about the attacks and more about the work of the rescue workers on 9/11.

“I remember wondering what those guys were thinking as they went into the towers. Was it just their job? Was it instinct? Were they scared? Words can’t describe the courage it takes to do what they did. Some of those guys went up 77 flights of stairs. They had a lot of time to think about what they were getting into,” Payeur said. “Some of them paid the ultimate price. They are truly heroes.”
Payeur said courage of the rescue workers opened his eyes to the possibility of a career as a firefighter. He thought about it through high school, went off to college, and then decided to give firefighting a try. Like Dillen, he began as a paid on-call firefighter. And like Dillen, he quickly fell in love with the job.

“Everyone is in a tough spot at some point in their life. To be there and help people in a tough spot, I feel like it means a lot to them,” Payeur said. “It feels good to help people. I like that I am able to look in the mirror and feel good about what I do.”