From Fan to Family: How Lance Woodruff Became an FDC Star

If you want to know how our relationship with Lance Woodruff got started, the truth is we “liked” him first.

We hit that big heart button on one of his Instagram posts when we saw the Longview, Texas, firefighter — aka @firefighterlance — making a hilarious video that involved firefighting and coffee. That’s pretty much our sweet spot, obviously.

He didn’t even know who we were. Hurts a little for us to admit it, but it’s true.

“I think I got maybe 300 likes on the video,” Lance said. “I saw that FDC liked it, and I said, ‘Hey, what’s Fire Dept. Coffee?’ So I looked into them and from then on, I tagged FDC anytime I did something I did something coffee-related.”

OK, so Lance didn’t know about Fire Dept. Coffee at the beginning. But he was already a fan of Jason Patton, our Vice President, who made a name for himself making videos with his own Fire Department Chronicles. So he was pretty excited when Jason “liked” the same video that FDC did.

He was even more excited a while later when Jason reached out and told Lance that he loved his videos. 

“I pretty much fangirled really hard,” Lance said. 

Always a Firefighter First

Lance wasn’t always a social media star.

Firefighting came first and still does.

He knew from a very young age that he wanted to be in the medical field. Then, in junior high and high school, he had the opportunity to spend time with his local fire department, going out on calls and getting a taste of what life is like in the fire service.

“I fell in love with it,” he said. “The generic answer that everyone gives is they want to help people — and that’s true. But aside from that, it’s an adrenaline rush. It’s something new every day. You can run the same call 10 times, and it’s a different scenario every time.”

Lance spent two years working as an EMT before joining the Longview Fire Department. He was in paramedic school when he first encountered the social media antics of Jason Patton and Firefighter Fenton, another firefighter/funny guy who’s since teamed up with FDC.

He and his fellow firefighters often shared the videos with each other, feeling like they were in on an inside joke where reality and humor collide. Lance got an itch to give it a try himself.

His chief had two rules: Don’t make fun of people. Don’t hurt anybody’s feelings.

Check.

“I thought it would be cool to share some of the experiences with the public who don’t get to see what we see — and to do it in a comedic way,” he said. “To bring some light to the dark situations, add some lightheartedness to some of it. I think it helps people relate to the situations we run into.”

And Lance was good at it. Really good.

From the characters he created to his deadpan delivery, it resonated with firefighters and the general public.

It definitely resonated with us.

We had to smash that “like” button.

Conquering Nerves and Crushing Comedy

After that initial connection, Jason asked Lance if he could film some videos in Texas and share them with FDC.

They were hilarious, as expected.

Before long, Jason told Lance that FDC wanted him to join us in Illinois along with Firefighter Fenton, Natalie Adasiewicz, Randy James, and the rest of the FDC crew.

“I hit the fangirl button again,” Lance said.

In his first scene, Lance remembers, he had maybe four words to say, but he just couldn’t spit them out. “Shaking like a leaf” was how he put it.

“Cut!” Jason said. “Calm down. We’re just having fun. Just be yourself. Let’s try it again.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t call me sir.”

Lance got over his nerves pretty quickly. He nailed it.

And he’s continued to nail it time and again. Whether it’s an FDC video or a video on his own social media pages, Lance always delivers the laughs — and along the way, he provides insight and perspective into the lives of firefighters and paramedics.

“It was intimidating at first, seeing all these people I think of as social media stars,” he said. “The great part is they’re the exact same people off-screen as they are on it. When I got there, it was like an instant friendship. Everybody was super inviting.”

He fits right in. He’s part of the FDC family, along with his wife, Sami — who he calls his “No. 1 supporter” — and their children.