When you become a firefighter in California, you have big shoes to fill.
"We can respond to medical calls, fires, rescues, wildland incidents and so because of that there's a big interest in becoming a fire fighter at least here in California," explains Santa Maria Fire Chief Leonard Champion.
That interest hasn't slowed down; Chief Champion says there's constantly a waiting list just to get into local fire academies.
"We certainly have had success in the amount of applicants for firefighter positions here in Santa Maria and really any department locally - this is a very attractive place to work," says Champion.
But just because it's a nice location, it doesn't mean the work isn't hard.