James Henry Pfister

Jim was born and raised in San Diego, California. He graduated from Hoover High School, where he also met his wife, Joan. After a few years working in a metal shop, he joined the San Diego Fire Department in 1961 and served as a Firefighter, Engineer, and Captain until his retirement in 1995. His father, William, and his son, Jim, also served on the department, creating a Pfister legacy spanning three generations and nearly 100 years with SDFD.

If there is one thing firefighters have a lot of, especially after 34 years on the job, it is stories. And they love telling them, time and time again. This is a collection of Jim’s stories, recorded in 2000, shortly after his retirement, by his daughter Katie for a school project.

Firefighters occupy a culturally unique position, one that lets them see people at their highest highs and lowest lows. Through all of it, they stay calm and caring, even in crises that seem hopeless. These stories span the entire range of that human experience, from small kindnesses to self-sacrificing acts of heroism, from the most heartbreaking tragedies and disasters to moments of mischief and practical jokes.

They are presented here as an unflinching, unfiltered look at what life on the job is like, told by a man whose skill, charisma, and tendency for mischief made him a natural and beloved leader within SDFD, and patriarch within his family.