Goodyear firefighters Dan Freiberg and Branden Husky weren't satisfied with saving lives a few days a week.
So the pair decided to start a business where they can take a proactive approach to saving lives daily.
Firefighters work 24 hours on, 48 off. So for Freiberg and Husky, they were searching for something to do with their off time.
"It's a win-win," Freiberg said. "We can make money and do what we like doing - service the community and prevent tragedies from happening."
The duo had seen too many times what happens when fire strikes a residential home.
Statistics released by the National Fire Protection Association state 3,500 deaths a year result from fire, of which 85 percent occur in a home. More than one and a half million fires a year cause losses of $14.6 billion.
For $25, the Fire Guys will visit your home and perform an inspection. If they come across a fire/safety hazard and render services, the visit fee will be waived.
"We're trying to give good service for a good value," Husky said.
Fire Guys Inc. began just a month ago. So far, the bulk of their jobs has been cleaning out dryer vent ducts - the flexible hose (aluminum or foil) that runs from the back of a dryer to the outside of the home.
Lint, which builds up in the dryer vent, causes 13,000 fires annually, Freiberg said.
"To show them it needs to be done, we have a digital camera that we stick up there," Freiberg said.
A lot of lint gets past a dryer's lint trap, Freiberg said. The 11-year firefighter recommends families get the dryer vent duct cleared out every two years. For homes that have just a couple of people living in them, he said to do it every three years.
"Not only are you preventing a fire hazard, but you also increase the efficiency of your machine, said Freiberg, a Goodyear paramedic.
Another big part of the business is offering smoke detector service and maintenance.
The Fire Guys will check smoke detectors with a can of "smoke" that they spray onto them. Once the alarm goes off and it activates all the others, they spray the alarm again with air to clear the smoke. And while they are up there, the Fire Guys put in a new battery.
Husky, who has been working with the Goodyear Fire Department since 1992 as a volunteer, and then full time since 1995, said smoke detectors "become less efficient at eight to 10 years old," Husky said, adding that's when they go down to 30 percent efficiency.
So for homeowners with detectors in that range, the Fire Guys recommend they replace them.
Another service the professional firefighters perform comes about because of vaulted ceilings. Husky and Freiberg will use their long ladder to perform whatever needs to be done - whether it's replacing a smoke detector or light bulb.
"We will do any other work that requires a ladder to prevent people from falling off," said Husky, who has responded to plenty of calls where people had broken hips or worse from falling off a ladder.
And for parents of a young child or those expecting one soon, the Fire Guys will go through their home and completely child proof it.
And both Fire Guys, who are fathers themselves, have been there, done that.
"With our company, you are always going to get a professional fireman involved in servicing the customers," Freiberg said.
And as Husky puts it, they are "used to going in a home when the [residents] are having the worst day of their lives."
Now, the duo hopes to enter homes as entrepreneur businessmen, so they don't have to go back as firefighters.
To reach the Fire Guys, call 623-537-7354.
Rich Ott can be reached by e-mail
at rott@westvalleyview.com.
