Hailey Katz

Staff Writer

Noah Applebaum ’12 has a rare and fascinating life beyond his average Milken persona: He is a part-time firefighter in training.

Applebaum is part of a youth program called A Cadet/Explorer Program, which brought him to his base station, Station 94, in Crenshaw. Applebaum often works 24-hour shifts at the Crenshaw station on the weekends and occasionally works a few shifts on weekdays.

Although Applebaum cannot yet go into a burning building, he spends his hours training and going on ride-alongs in anticipation of the day that he will able to actually participate in physically putting out fires. In the meantime, he takes part in the extinguishing process by assisting from outside the flame-engulfed buildings.

With an empowering love for what he does, Applebaum hopes to further his training and passion in Boulder, Colorado, where he will attend college.

Aspiring to pursue firefighting as a career, Applebaum said “when I finish college I definitely want to come back to Los Angeles and join the LAFD. Helping people gives me a really good feeling. It makes me feel good to know that I can make a difference.”

Applebaum’s actions and attitude towards his service proves his commendation by the Jewish Journal as one of this year’s Mensches of the Year was well deserved.