Arizona fire department welcomes 19 babies from 18 firefighters in 2024
A fire department in Arizona celebrated a baby boom with a special photoshoot after 18 of its firefighters welcomed 19 babies in 2024.
Earlier this month, the Chandler fire department hosted a gathering for its team members and their families to pose for adorable group photos with their newborns.
Speaking to "Good Morning America," Jack Bernard, an engineer at the department, and a dad to daughter Jersey June, shared that the idea for the photoshoot came from his fiancée, Lexi Friedman.
"Lexi had actually pointed out that a lot of guys in the department were having babies, and then myself and Christopher Morales, who also has a newborn baby," he explained. "We help run our department's social media page, and so we're always coming up with different ideas. And this one kind of just fell in our lap. Lexi gave us the idea, and we rolled with it, and turned out to be a lot more special than we could have imagined."
Bernard, who welcomed his first child with Friedman in June, mentioned that with so many new parents at the department, they've created a group chat to share updates and advice.
"Everyone you know comes from different backgrounds and has different experiences, and so it's really easy to find somebody at work that's gone through something that you're trying to figure out, like parenthood, and for all of us to be going through the same stage at the same time is pretty special," he said. "So we shared laughs over the sleepless nights and shared tips and stuff like that."
Gushing over his newest addition to his family, Bernard described Jersey as "a blessing in our lives."
"She's the happiest little baby," he said. "She's always laughing and smiling and she's the best."
Out of the 18 firefighters who welcomed babies, one had twins and the youngest was born in early December, according to Bernard.
Blas Minor, the department's chief of public relations, shared that celebrating 19 births in 2024 has helped foster a strong sense of community within the department.
"It's something that the wives and dads can share at work when they're out doing things together, they can bounce things off one another, especially those that are first time parents," he said.
In his 24 years with the department, Minor told "GMA" he's never seen a baby boom like this.
"I have seen other articles of other departments across the country that have had, you know, 14, 15, we weren't going for any record by any means," he added. "It just seemed to come out that way."
As the department grows younger with senior members retiring and new firefighters being hired, Minor said he expects the number of families to keep growing.
Reflecting on the photoshoot, Bernard explained how the gathering is particularly meaningful for himself and his colleagues especially after facing some intense and traumatic situations at work.
"To be outside of work and all get to go through something really incredible together, it's just really special," he said.
