Cael Davis has the ‘best job in the world’ as Princeton firefighter/EMT

Cael Davis has scored touchdowns, 3-pointers and slam dunks growing up playing sports.

He’s getting bigger thrills these days as a fireman/EMT for the Princeton Fire Department in a part-time position.

It’s his dream job and has been everything and more than what he thought it would be.

“It’s the best job in the world I’d say,” said Davis, 21. “It’s ever-changing. It’s never the same thing in the same day, ever. It’s always something different. I enjoy that. I never wanted to do a 9 to 5 or anything like that and going in and do the same thing every day.”

“It’s the best job in the world I’d say. It’s ever-changing. It’s never the same thing in the same day, ever. It’s always something different. I enjoy that. I never wanted to do a 9 to 5 or anything like that and going in and do the same thing every day.”

—  Cael Davis

For instance, you never know when you might be called upon to help deliver a baby in the back of an ambulance off the interstate.

That’s the task he faced shortly on the job in December 2022 assisting Patrick Blackert while transporting an expectant mother to the former hospital in Peru and they didn’t quite make it there. They had to pull off at the Spring Valley exit to welcome the baby into the world.

“She said she was going to have it, so when a mother says she’s going to have it soon, she knows,” he said.

While the paramedics and EMTs have childbirth as part of their training in classes, Davis didn’t have to wait very long on the job to put what he learned to use.

“Many people don’t have a childbirth on their record,” he said with a laugh.

For their efforts, Davis and Blackert were inducted into the department’s Fraternal Order of the Stork.

Davis, a 2021 graduate of Princeton High School, said having his uncle, Luke Davis, a standout athlete for Manlius and Bureau Valley high schools, serving on the Princeton Fire Department, definitely “gave me some inspiration and helped me pick out what I wanted to do in life.”

He then took an Advanced College Credit class during his sophomore year at La Salle-Peru High School for fire science and “kind of just fell in love with it.”

Davis said he learned many life lessons from playing sports that serve him well today in his occupation.

“Athletics was a big help. [It] gave you that competitiveness to always wanting to be better and keep training,” he said. “Also the teamwork part was definitely a huge help as well. You’re always working as a team and finding your position on the team. That definitely helped out.”

If there was one saying he heard from a coach that rings out most today is “always give 100%.”

Two of those coaches, Ryan Pearson (Princeton football) and Jason Smith (Princeton basketball) said being a first responder is the perfect fit for Davis.

“Cael was the type of kid that always cared about everyone. A big-hearted kid that always cared about his teammates more than himself,” Pearson said. “That’s what it takes to be a great first responder. To care and being a great teammate and always willing to help others. I’m very proud of Cael as the young man he has become.”

“I knew Cael would be successful at whatever career he was passionate about,” Smith said. “Cael was/is very active and hands-on, so I knew a sedentary type of career was out of the question for him. Once he found his niche, I knew he would impress all of his colleagues with his work ethic, willingness to learn, dependability and his quick wit is always good for a few laughs.”

Davis, who currently is taking a paramedic class, recently tested in Normal to try to get on full-time there.

He encourages anyone who may have a desire to get into this line of work to look into the Princeton Fire Academy. He said the Princeton Fire Department will be promoting its fire academy on its social media pages in June.

“That was a little foot in the door. It was awesome,” he said. “I’d say if anybody would want to do anything around here, that would be something they should look into. It starts in the fall. It’s a couple months and gets your basic operations firefighters certificate.”