Jimmy Goetz began his career in community service long before he was old
enough to drive a car or The Salvation Army Canteen. As a young boy, he and his
brother Brian were always found at the local firehouse in the Bronx where he
grew up. The quarters of Engine 81 and Ladder 46 was his home away from home. He
learned all about the fire service from the firefighters, who were his extended
family. Later, in life, this feeling of community pride took him to become an
auxiliary Patrolman in New York City from 1975 to 1983. Patrolling some of the
Bronx's best and worst
neighborhoods, he had amassed most of the awards accept the one for valor, which
a person practically has to get killed to receive. This of course was volunteer
work. For five years Jimmy left behind the police and fire service doing other
things in his life. But the volunteer bug bit again and the need to be of
service took over. He and his brother Brian while taking pictures at a big fire,
decided that night to join the Salvation Army Canteen service. The rest
is history. He drove the Canteen truck located in The Bronx for the FDNY from
1988 to 1997. During these years Jimmy became a fine "fire ground" photographer.
Many of his dramatic photos were published in Firehouse Magazine and one of the
images was selected by Firehouse Magazine for a "one time" trading card set. You
would be hard pressed to find this set today. Today, Jimmy is an associate
member of the Lansdowne Volunteer Fire Department. He is currently in training
with the Baltimore City Auxiliary Police and will graduate on May 29th to begin
patrolling Baltimore's fine streets. Of course, Jimmy still plans on shooting
photos at fire scenes.