No-Shave November is almost over, and emergency responders across the state will soon go back to a clean-shaven face. But for some Oklahoma firefighters, the mustache will be long-lived.
The handlebar. The toothbrush. The pencil. The walrus. The horseshoe. Firefighters with mustaches is an iconic image spanning back decades. “Back in the '70s, I know there was a whole bunch of mustaches. And we see pictures of them, almost all of them have mustaches,” Oklahoma City Fire Department Capt. Witek Bycko said.
And in 2020, dozens of Oklahoma City firefighters are donning lip whiskers.
“We’re pretty proud of the mustaches that we have,” Bycko said. “The guys that we have here take care of them, clip them and put oils on them.”
“I wash it like I would my hair in the morning in the shower – condition it, oil it, then wax it to finish it all off,” Oklahoma City Fire Department Corp. Kyle Parasich said.