Our Young Professional for this Week, Mr. Malone, is a fireman extraordinaire. Whenever you hear the call for FO #46 Malone it’s this very ambitious young man. Malone has been in the Fire Department going on seven years and there has not been a single moment that he has ever had the thought of quitting for another career that can possibly earn him more money. Photo: Facebook

Our Young Professional giving a young child a hands on feel of the water hose. Photo. Provided

He is a familiar face around as in his spare time when not on duty you can bet to find him doing little jobs on the side to fill the whole for the needed added dollars required for him to live a comfortable life, take care of his family, tuck a bit in a corner for hard times and most of all to help him reach his dream goal of becoming a master private entrepreneur. Photo: VINO

Avery A. Malone operates a small mobile car wash which he ultimately wants to expand into a bigger establishment in the near future. Photo: VINO

In this case the Virgin Islands can stand tall and boast that when it comes to protecting people and property they can be blindfolded and know for sure in the hands of Mr Avery A. Malone, under the guidance of God, his colleagues and superiors, it is safe.

Our Young Professional for this Week, Mr. Malone, is a fireman extraordinaire. Whenever you hear the call for FO (fire officer) #46 Malone it’s this very ambitious young man. Malone has been in the Fire Department going on seven years and there has not been a single moment that he has ever had the thought of quitting for another career that can possibly earn him more money.

“As a fireman I just enjoy helping people. I like to see the satisfaction on people’s face when I actually do something good for them, help save a life, I just feel good knowing that I do something good for society,” said Mr. Malone.

As a matter of fact he is a familiar face around as in his spare time when not on duty you can find him doing little jobs on the side.

This is in order to earn additional dollars required for him to live a comfortable life, take care of his family, tuck a bit in a corner for hard times and most of all to help him reach his dream goal of becoming a master private entrepreneur.

“I don’t ever want to leave the Fire Service,” he said as it has become a part of his life. “I grew up as a hard working person. I come from a family that always works hard, whatever I wanted in life I worked for. I don’t like to rely on people… I like to do things on my own,” he said.

“I believe that you have to work hard to accomplish your goals in this life,” he said.

One of the admirable qualities of our Young Professional is the ‘never give up’ mentality. “It might come fast to some, it might come slow to others but once you keep working hard you are going to realize how much you accomplish, you might accomplish slow you might accomplish fast but it will feel good to know that when you could sit back and you know that you working hard so you can get what you want in life and you are not out there doing nothing wrong or stealing or the stuff that gets you in trouble or your death to get what you want,” he said.

He recalled his first experience of being part of a team to have fought a fire in the Virgin Islands. It is recorded as one of the largest and scariest fires to have ever hit the Territory. That was a fire some years back at the BVI Electricity Corporation. He remembers at the time he was in training when the team on the scene had called for back-up.

He clearly remembered his trainer putting them up to the challenge, which at first was scary at the thought of it. “Boy when we bend [the] corner and see drums of fuel flying in the air that was scary and being human I was for sure scared, I said this is what I sign up for,” he said.

That fear was quickly allayed once he got to the task, thanks to the caring family spirit that embodies the corp of fire officers and the love and trust they show for each other as brothers.

When not on duty Avery A. Malone can be found ‘washing down’ something he does with the same passion as a fireman. When he is done with someone’s vehicle there is no need for complaints but rather compliments and if you are the type, a tip to say thanks for a job well done.

Avery is also a versatile mechanic something he thought he would have taken on as a career but one taste as a fireman has got him stuck with no hope of turning away.

He said that in the next five years from now he looks forward to elevating to a more senior position in the Fire Service and at the same time closer of not there, to seeing himself as an established businessman with a unique professional car wash shop with side amenities for mechanical doings.

His advice to others is, “Teamwork and love for your brother. There comes a time in life that you need a shoulder to brace on and at some time you must be an available shoulder. No man can stand alone in this life. Show love always and life will shine its blessings on you.”