Like father, like son.

Father and son Andrew Rodgers Sr. and Andrew Rodgers II are both firefighters in Vicksburg.

Both men also served the country in the military. Rodgers Sr. spent five years in the Navy, and Rodgers II spent four years in the Army as a 42A human resource specialist. Rodgers Sr. said his time in the Navy influenced his decision to become a firefighter.

“Everybody in the Navy had to be firefighters, and that’s what sparked my interest,” Rodgers Sr. said.

Rodgers II has been a firefighter for almost a year and a half and is currently on Shift A at Station 8.

Rodgers Sr. has been a firefighter for 16 years and is currently on Shift C at Station 9.

He has been working for the Jackson Fire Department for the past three years as well.

“Vicksburg is my bread and butter. Jackson is just a supplement for retirement,” Rodgers Sr. said.

The Rodgers family moved to Vicksburg from Arkansas in 1996. Growing up with Rodgers Sr. as a father, Rodgers II said the household was handled with a lot of discipline and chores like washing the dishes, cooking and making sure everything was clean.

“As I got on to the fire department, I see a lot of things he had us doing as little kids, the same thing they’d be doing in the fire service,” Rodgers II said. “It made us responsible.” Rodgers II said he had other aspirations like becoming a professional athlete or working in the music industry, but he came to a point where he decided it was time to make a career.

“The fire service was the best choice because I like to help people, save people,” Rodgers II said. “I like to do dirty work like putting out fires.”

However, being a firefighter is more than putting out fires and helping people. A large portion of the job is upkeep of the equipment, and Rodgers Sr. said it is their main responsibility because maintained equipment is crucial to being able to contain fires and assist people.

“With have eons of equipment that we have to work with,” Rodgers Sr. said, including fire hoses, extinguishers and rescue tools.

In the 1990s firefighters made it a priority to talk to children in schools about fire safety, and he believes there are fewer structure fires because of that education. Now, he said many of the calls the fire department receives are medical.

“All of the firefighters basically are basic EMTs (emergency medical technicians),” Rodgers Sr. said. “So we’re the first responders to all of the medical calls.”

Rodgers Sr. said he doesn’t have to worry about his son because he handles himself well.

“The only time I worried about him was when he was in the academy,” Rodgers Sr. said of the time he tried to prepare his son for what was to come during training.

Rodgers II said he doesn’t have to worry about his father’s safety both because he believes in and trusts the family of firefighters around his father.

“I know everybody is going to do their job,” Rodgers II said.