Terrence Hunter - Firefighter

Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Firefighter Terrence Hunter has driven the engine at Fire Station 51 out of the station garage and onto the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) more times than he can count.

Though entrance to the station itself, and thus the airport, requires a special clearance and LAX-administered ID, the crew at Fire Station 51 has plenty of experience driving their green apparatus right onto the concrete at the nation’s second-largest airport.  

It takes an LAFD member with unique expertise to be a firefighter at Fire Station 51. It takes an especially experienced and valuable member to remain at Fire Station 51 for 19 years, like 35-year Firefighter Hunter.  

During this time, Firefighter Hunter has significantly strengthened relationships between the Department and LAX, a partnership that is critical to the safety of the nearly 200,000 people who pass through the airport every single day.  

A career in the fire service was not on Firefighter Hunter’s radar until a captain came to his high school to talk to students about the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s explorer program for young teens interested in firefighting.  

The opportunity piqued the interest of Hunter and some of his friends, and they decided to give it a shot.

At the time, the native South Angeleno was working at a grocery chain in Watts, right where LAFD Fire Station 64 stands today. As he advanced in the explorer program and continued his day job, Hunter began to consider a different pathway. He would watch the local LAFD engine fly by the window of the store, and his desire to be a firefighter grew stronger with each flash of red lights against the walls.

“This is not my calling," Firefighter Hunter remembered his younger self thinking while at work one day. “My calling is the fire department.”

Thus, Hunter exchanged his one-mile walk to work for a 50-mile drive, one way, to be part of the County’s “camp crew,” or hand crew, a specialized team of trained wildland firefighters that engages hand tools for fire suppression.  

“There were no benefits, and it was half the pay, but I absolutely loved it,” Firefighter Hunter reflected.

After leaving the County’s camp crew and joining the LAFD in 1991, Firefighter Hunter knew that he had found his purpose.

It was shortly after his first year as a new firefighter that he experienced the historic LA Riots while at Fire Station 37 in Westwood. He cited this as a significant growth point in his firefighting journey.

“There were fires everywhere,” he reflected. “It was total chaos.”  

The impact of that experience laid the foundation for the resilience and fortitude that he has carried with him throughout his career.  

Fifteen years in, Firefighter Hunter was challenged by a former mentor, Captain Craig Jackson, to take on the role of a peer grouper at Drill Tower 40. Firefighter Hunter helped guide five different LAFD recruit classes through the tower, providing mental and emotional support through strenuous training.  

“You have to pay it back,” he said of his decision to take on the mentorship position, having felt an obligation to pass down the same support that he had received as an incoming member.  

Firefighter Hunter thrives on relationship building and mentoring, which is why he chose to advance to Fire Station 51. After stints at the busy Fire Station 46, nicknamed “house of pain,” and Fire Station 34 in Crenshaw, it was time to try something new that required a different kind of expertise.  

“Firefighter Hunter’s dedication, leadership, and professionalism have made him an invaluable asset to both the station and the LAX airport community,”

his Captain at Fire Station 51, Greg Pruyne, shared.

New to the station, he said that without Firefighter Hunter’s leadership, it would have taken him well over a year to learn the nuances of operations between the LAFD and LAX. “Because of him, I learned more than I thought I could in just six months,” he added.  

From removing deceased passengers from flights to rescuing injured workers during a bridge collapse at LAX in 2011, Firefighter Hunter has had his fair share of life-altering moments. But he could not imagine another career.  

“As firefighters, we’re problem solvers,” he stated. “Our goal is to make the situations we go to better than we found them. And that is exactly what I signed up for.”