[COVER STORY]
Caleb Mitchell:
A Firefighter Comes Full Circle
by Eric Johnson
A childhood anywhere is a special time for learning and discovery. Caleb Mitchell’s early years in Chantilly also led to a round-the-world experience and a career of community service.
The story began years ago when Caleb was a wide-eyed preschooler. One day, his class got a visit from a firefighter. The man in a uniform spoke with the children about fire safety and his special line of work. Caleb’s ears perked and his eyes grew even wider.
Fast forward to 2023. Today, Caleb himself serves as a Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD) firefighter. What’s more, in late October he was scheduled to join colleagues in giving a presentation at the same preschool where he first learned what fighting fires was all about.
As a boy “I was super intrigued” by that firefighter’s presentation, Caleb recalled. “Now, I’ve come full circle.”
Caleb’s cycle of experience says a lot about how a Chantilly childhood can shape a person for the good and where a chance encounter can lead.
Caleb grew up in a middle class family with strong Chantilly roots. He has three siblings: a younger sister who now attends middle school, a younger brother studying at college, and an older brother who lives nearby.
“They’ve been nothing but supportive to me,” Caleb said of his parents. “I haven’t taken the path that most have taken, but they were always willing to stand by me.
“For example, instead of going to college, I wanted to travel the world.”
And travel he did. After graduating from high school, Caleb embarked an a gap-year journey that took him to a half-dozen countries and incredible experiences. He performed community service and worked on a farm in Swaziland, taught English in India, and explored a variety of places in Nepal, Haiti, and Guatemala.
Like his mother and brothers, Caleb graduated from Chantilly High School. His father graduated from Falls Church High School before marrying into the Chantilly community. His parents still live in the Chantilly home where they raised Caleb.
Along the way, he honed his musical talents before returning to Chantilly as a skilled guitar player and vocalist.
“There’s a lot of this world that you don’t get to see if you stay in your own bubble,” Caleb said. “I was privileged with the opportunity to go overseas and I learned so much in that year.”
While seeing the world, Caleb found his niche as a performer. It was in Chantilly that his mother first introduced him to the guitar. But not until he and a friend were jamming together in a remote corner of India did he awaken his musical potential and compose his first song.
Today, Caleb is a folk singer, guitarist, and mandolin player whose biggest fans include his fellow firefighters at Fairfax County’s Fire Station 4 in Herndon. In fact, his fellow fire-fighters are among his biggest supporters, encouraging him to perform and attending his shows. He collaborated with Connor Price in July 2023 and recorded a piece that’s become a YouTube hit called “Still Blue.” Since then, he’s released five new songs. And he was slated to play live this fall at Pinkston, a Falls Church venue that spotlights independ ent artists who, like Caleb, perform music locally on the side of a busy career.
Working as a firefighter who, like every Fairfax County firefighter, is also a trained emergency medical technician “is a great way to give to the community. I love it,” he said. “It sounds cliché, but it truly is humbling. I am with guys who want to be better every single day. We want to provide the best for our citizens every single day.”
While music is indeed a passion, firefighting is in Caleb’s blood. He started studying firefighting through a high school vocational program offered through a partnership with FCFRD and Fairfax County Public Schools, and earned Firefighter 1, Firefighter 2, Hazardous Materials Certifications, American Heart Association Basic Life Support, and Incident Command System certifications upon grad uation. He was able to join the department in June 2021.
The fire station schedule is rigorous, requiring 24-hour shifts and sometimes daylong training sessions. But Caleb enjoys the weekly routine as fitting for a job that mandates what he calls “selflessness.”
“You have to remind yourself every single day that none of those minutes at the fire station are yours. You hold each of your days with open hands.
“I’m grateful for the resources that we have” as members of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, Caleb said. “We can provide the very best for the citizens of Fairfax County.”
When speaking about his job, Caleb leaves no doubt about his dedication and penchant for community service — an attitude that stems from another Chantilly experience. It happened while he was in high school, years after his preschooler eyes got a peek at firefighting.
Caleb was befriended by a security guard who was working at Chantilly High and who happened to be a retired FCFRD firefighter. They chatted about career choices, and the guard suggested he try a vocational track that would lead to a firefighting profession. Caleb got additional help from a guidance counselor and support from a close buddy who also wanted to take a similar path. They signed up together, and the rest is history.
“Actually, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into,” he said. “But that set me on my way.”
Now, having arrived at the intersection of saving lives with the fire department and entertaining as a talented musician, Caleb is grateful for the chance to grow up in Chantilly. When asked whether he has some advice for local young people who may be wondering about which path to take as they leave childhood behind, he answered:
“Take time in this busy life to go after things that fuel you,” he said. “You can’t put a price on that, and you can’t put a price on passion.”