VIDEO: Firefighters are used to being on-call to serve the community. Now those skills are being used while off-duty, to help in a different way.
Curtis Smith spent 18 years as a firefighter, mostly with the city of Golden Valley.
"About five years ago I just thought, 'These people are so talented. They're such wonderful people. They're so trustworthy. This really calls for some sort of business,'" Smith recalled.
Firefighter Handyman launched in January — dispatching off-duty firefighters to handle home repairs across the Twin Cities metro area.
The four founders include Smith (retired firefighter), Jeff Piper and Ryan Hering with the Golden Valley Fire Department, and Libby Grygar with the Minnetonka Fire Department. Combined, they have 50-plus years in the fire service.